


Memories of Shadows and Hopes Long forgotten

by P3Panda



Series: Overtale [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-07
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2018-09-07 02:31:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8779624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/P3Panda/pseuds/P3Panda
Summary: Join in the final volume of the overtale series! Have fun and enjoy! Things are sure getting real!





	1. Recurring Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> so here it is! I will say that I won't be posting as often as I used to but it's coming! Hope you all enjoy!

It was something frisk had not seen in a long time. 

It was a dream. 

She had grown so accustomed to being without them that when she re-entered this void of black, it struck her with a sense of nostalgia. 

She didn’t know what to do. It was such a familiar yet unfamiliar feeling all at the same time and she felt extremely overwhelmed.

Then she heard the voice. 

“Hello Frisk.”

Frisk turned around rapidly to see the familiar face of Chara. She had seemingly gotten older. Her face seemed more mature. It looked much like hers when she thought about it. 

“Why?” Frisk asked.

“Why what?” Chara responded confusedly.

“Why now?”

Chara rolled her eyes “Frisk, you’re going to have to be clearer than that.”

“You’ve just left me alone for the past six months. No contact, nothing. So why now?”

Chara’s body language and her tone shifted. They seemed more secretive “Ah yes… That. Well I’ve been a tad… Preoccupied.”

“For six months?”

“Yes for six months you imbecile! You may have forgotten in the six months I left you alone, but I still want you dead!”

Frisk sat down with her legs crossed. Chara did the same.

“Ah yes. How could I forget? Preoccupied with what?”

Chara had a smug grin slapped across her face. “I’m not telling you. Oh by the way, rooting around in your brain is fun. I get to know all of your dirty secrets.”

“Don’t do that! There’s… Private stuff in there.”

Again Chara rolled her eyes and smiled deviously. “yes yes we know that you’re in love with Asriel already. We get it.”

“I am NOT in lov-“

“Yeah yeah whatever.”

Frisk took a moment to calm down but then asked, “Well, why are you here?” 

“Ah yes I forgot to mention that. I have a task for you.”

Frisk crossed her arms. “And what makes you think I’ll do it?”

“Because I’ll kill you otherwise.”

“I see your point.”

Chara set in on her story. “Well see a long time ago, I had a sister. And when I fell into the underground, I forgot. Like you did. I can’t even remember her name. I’ve been  
searching my mind as well as yours in these past months so I have some of my memories back, but not all. You’re going to find her for me.”

“How could I possibly do that? I have no clue where to look.”

“Maybe if you’d let me talk I would have told you.”

“Sorry.” Frisk said semi-sarcatstically.

“No you’re not. Well I don’t have much to go off, but I know I used to live in Ebott. I remember it being on the outer edge of town in one of the more rural areas. I imagine by now the place would be a wreck but if you ask around out there maybe someone will know.”

“I suppose I don’t have any other choice so I’ll do it.”

“No… You don’t”

The dream faded as Chara got up and walked away.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Frisk awoke and touched her stomach. It was wet and sticky. This obviously surprised her and she looked down to see a red splotch on her tank top that she slept in.

“Mom! I need a new bandage!”

“Leaking again?” She heard her mother call from downstairs.

“Yup!”

You know, as it turns out, even healing magic has its limits. Frisk had learned that it can’t heal wounds inflicted by foreign objects, so a stab wound or a gunshot wound would take a lot longer to heal. It can help the body’s natural healing process, but it won’t heal the wound itself. Her broken ribs healed very quickly though. 

The doctors had told them that if she had been in a coma any longer, she most likely would have died and that it was a miracle that the bullet missed any vital organs. 

Frisk leaned over her bed and grabbed her crutches. She could only support her own weight to an extent and was starting to walk again, but it was a process and she still had to go through hours of physical therapy. 

She and Asriel were just entering their freshman year in high school. They were already a few months in but even so it was much better than middle school already. Their friend group had kind of split up at this point, as many of them went to different high schools and the only ones at Frisk’s were herself, Asriel, and Pandrew. 

She was now dressed and ready for the day.

That is the day of sitting around and doing nothing. 

She went downstairs and was greeted by the sight of Asriel struggling to eat a piece of toast without getting any of the crumbs in his fur. 

“Heya Az.” She said with a chuckle. 

“Oh howdy frisk! You look nice today.” He replied.

That was odd. He never tells her she looks nice. And she had just woken up. She didn’t look “nice.”

“Uh... Thank you!”

“You’re welcome.”

He was blushing. Did he always do that? Jesus Christ he was cute.

Frisk grabbed a muffin and a glass as she poured some juice into it.

“How can you drink that stuff? It’s so sour.” He said.

Frisk merely laughed and punched him in the arm. “You know, for being so big and buff, you really are just a big baby!”

“Ow!” He exclaimed with a laugh.

She was not the same little girl he had met all those years ago. Her voice had clearly deepened. She seemed a lot more like a woman. She was so strong.

His hearing came back then. “-az. AZ. ASRIEL DREEMUR CAN YOU HEAR ME!?”

“Huh? Oh uh… Yeah.”

“Jeez man where were you this time?”

“Nowhere. Just lost in thought.”

“Alright I guess.”

Now Sans appeared from his room upstairs dressed in a tuxedo. 

“hey kids can you pass me a banana?”

Asriel obliged holding out a banana “sure why? –Oh wait no don’t!-“

“For my monkey suit!”

“GOD WHY!?” Asriel exclaimed as he pulled the strings on his hoodie and slammed his head onto the kitchen counter.

“So what’s the occasion?” Frisk asked.

“Ah, just brunch with a couple of politicians. Two things that I hate.”

Asriel was now out from his hoodie cave. “Oh is that where dad is?”

“Yeah. He left earlier this morning.” Sans explained. “You know, it’s truly amazing how early he gets up considering how much he snores.”

They all laughed.

Toriel now came down the stairs to their house and entered the kitchen

“Ok! So what is everyone doing today?” She asked.

Sans and Asriel replied in order. “Brunch.” “Nothing.” 

Frisk at this point remembered what Chara had told her to do. 

“I think I’m gonna go for a walk.”

“Sounds great! Can I come?” asked Asriel.

“Sorry Az. I’m gonna take this one alone.”

“Alright then. Netflix here I come!” he got up and ran to the couch.

Toriel rubbed her chin. “I can’t remember the last time you went on a walk alone. Is something wrong?” 

“No. Just wanted to go for a walk.”

“Will you be ok on your crutches?” asked Sans.

“Yeah I’ll be fine.”

“Ok. Don’t forget to put on some warm clothes! It’s snowing out there!” Toriel yelled as frisk was going to the door.

“It is?” 

Sure enough, she opened the door and it was snowing. Beautiful. The snowflakes glistened in the shining sun and she could see her breath clearly.

She put on her coat and hobbled outside.

She began to move towards the outside of town and she saw some people she knew. It was a nice walk. 

Then she realized she really didn’t know where she was going. Chara had only told her the outside of town and left the rest up to her. 

She decided to call up the mayor and ask him since he might know the whole situation. He must have been alive when whatever it was happened. 

He picked up and she asked if he ever knew a girl named Chara.

“Oh yeah. Nice girl she was.” He responded. Quite ironic that was.

“What part of town did she used to live in?”

He paused. “Well she lived in an orphanage in the middle of town when her mom died but before that she lived in the pine forest area on the outer west side of town.”

“Thanks Mr. Mayor!” She moved to hang up but he interrupted.

“Sorry to bother you, but why do you ask?”

Frisk quickly came up with a lie. “I wanted to find out some more about her. Since she was you know, kind of part of the dreemurr family.”

“Ha. Funny how that worked out isn’t it? Ironic.”

“Yeah… Well bye!”

“See ya around kid!” He hung up.

She pondered what he meant by “ironic”. That seemed a bit odd. Also, her mom died? Guess they had more in common than she had originally thought. She was already learning. This was going to be easy!

She began her way to this pine forest neighborhood and she kept thinking about the mayor’s question and Chara’s unexpected appearance. Something felt amiss, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. 

She arrived at the neighborhood and began to go around knocking on doors asking people if a Chara had ever lived in the neighborhood.

As it turns out, after whatever happened happened, most people in the neighborhood moved out. They gave it a couple of years and then people began to move back in, so most people didn’t know. 

She was pointed in the direction of an elderly couple that had stayed through the incident. 

She began to walk towards the house, but on the way she saw it. 

It was clearly Chara’s old house. It was torn to shreds. Moss grew over it and vines hung from the ceiling. It oddly struck her with a sense of nostalgia, but she didn’t know what for.

She approached the couple’s house and rung the doorbell. In a few seconds, it opened revealing a nice looking elderly couple. For some reason, they seemed happy to see her.

“Um… Hello.” Frisk said sheepishly

“Frisk! So good to see you again! Found your way back eh?” replied the man.

Frisk was confused. “I’m sorry who are you again?”

“Oh of course you wouldn’t remember us! You were so little! Come in. It’s cold out there.”

Frisk decided to hold her ground and stay outside. “I think I’m just going to stay out here thanks. Well I had some questions about a girl that used to live here. Did you ever know a um… a Chara?” 

The woman seemed shocked. “Oh yes Chara! How could you possibly forget? You two were inseparable! Always doing something together.”

Frisk didn’t really know how to respond. She was in shock a small bit and didn’t really have time to question so she just continued. 

“mmhmm. Well uh… I kind of… Lost some of my memories of my life before I fell into the underground so I must have forgotten.”

The woman held her hands to her mouth. “Oh that’s horrible! You don’t remember anything?” 

“Not really.” Frisk’s hand moved to the back of her head and she rubbed it instinctively. 

“My my. That’s terrible!” 

“Yeah. Well I was wondering something about her.”

“Of course.”

“She had a sister right?”

They both gasped. Frisk was clearly wondering what was up at this point.

“Well… Yes. She did.” The man said.

“Could you possibly tell me who she was? Maybe her name?”

They seemed very hesitant. “Yes… Of course…”

“So who was she?”

“Well... Um… She was…”

Frisk was getting impatient. “What’s the matter? Who was she?”

“Frisk sweetie… She was you.”


	2. well computers suck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> really they do

so I do all my writing on my school laptop and i just had it upgraded to windows 10. Turns out that when you do that, it deletes everything. So now I have lost everything I was writing. Really just brainstorms for this particular story but it's still really . So it's going to take me even longer to finish this. so very very sorry.


	3. Shock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk is in shock after what happened

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So hopefully now I can get all of the stuff working and rolling again even though all my notes are gone. Guess I just have to rewrite the whole thing again. Sigh. This may take a while.

Frisk woke up in a furnished living room. Not very big, a small rocking chair in the corner. She was lying on an old flower-print couch in front of a brick fireplace. A mug of steaming liquid sat in front of her on the coffee table. She sat up and looked inside, hot cocoa. How quaint. Her thought was interrupted by the lady from the porch.

“Frisk? Are you awake honey?” 

Frisk’s mind then returned to her. Oh god. OH GOD CHARA. What was she going to do? It wasn’t possible there was no way. She sat on the couch staring into the void, in shock. 

The woman came into her view and began shaking her.

“Frisk sweetie come on! Snap out of it!” 

Frisk shook her head wildly and broke from her trance.

“Oh god Chara!” she screamed. 

The woman held her and quieted her down. “Sh… it’s alright Frisk. I know that must be hard to believe after such a long time but you need to relax. Calm down.”

Frisk’s breathing slowed a small bit however she was still shaking and couldn’t quite sit still. 

“You passed out the moment we told you. We thought it best to bring you inside and make you feel as comfortable as possible.” The man came in the room at this.

“how long was I out?” 

“only about fifteen minutes or so.” The old man replied. 

The was a long pause and then the woman spoke and picked up the mug.

“here frisk. Have some cocoa. It’ll- “

“I have to go.” Frisk interrupted. 

The couple recoiled in shock. “What? You just passed out. You’re in shock!”

“I have to leave. Now.” She said as she got up and tried to limp over to her crutches. 

She felt a warm, sticky substance on her side. Blood. Her gunshot wound was leaking again.

“Frisk honey you’re bleeding! You need to sit down.”

“I can’t! Not enough time! I have to get back!”

She grasped her crutches and flung open the wooden door. She began to hobble her way down the driveway and into the street, desperately moving towards her house. She made it about a block and then collapsed from exhaustion in the snow. Tears flooded her eyes. Blood stained her shirt and mixed with the white snow she laid upon. Chara couldn’t be her sister. It wasn’t possible. It- it couldn’t be. 

Then she looked up. 

In front of her stood the house. Chara’s house. Her house. Her vision faded away as she looked at it, mouthing a name. 

“Chara.”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Her eyes burned with the sight of the house. Not the real one. Just a picture. Merely a picture of her old house in a black void. 

In the picture, the house was in perfect shape. It looked nice. In front of the house stood three people. One must have been her. She was very small. Must have been only a baby. Another would have to be Chara. You could tell by the blush. And the last. Well, she was a woman. She was in jeans and a white t-shirt with an old leather jacket over it. Her hair was braided and thrown over her left shoulder. She looked… tired. Stressed. Like she was trying to act happy but just couldn’t for some reason.   
Frisk then noticed the eyes. They were a bright green. They looked like her eyes. 

“mom?” frisk asked.

Suddenly, a great wind blew the picture to the floor. 

Frisk walked to it and bent over. It had changed. It had writing all over it. Blood. 

Over her mother there was sloppy writing that read. “dead.”

And over her head there was more that read, “soon to be.”

Chara’s eyes. They were blood red. They seemed to follow her every move. A sound came from every direction. Laughter. Horrible, terrible shrieking laughter. 

Frisk’s gunshot wound began streaming with blood. She felt more pain than she ever had from that wound.

She heard crunching sounds and felt her bones collapse in on themselves. A leg, an arm, 7 ribs.

She felt her lung being pierced and blood flowing into her body.

A great burning came from her back and shoulder. Road burn. 

Suddenly, she felt all of her old cuts come back. All over her arms, chest, and back. Every single one she had ever gotten.

And finally, she experienced the most terrifying pain she had ever felt when Chara came from the shadows with a knife and took a chunk out of her shoulder. The exact same spot as she had all those years ago. 

It was the most pain she had ever experienced. Every injury from the past years was coming back. She felt all of them. Every one. 

Frisk looked into Chara’s eyes as she buried the knife in her shoulder. A grin was slapped across her face. 

Then suddenly, a sword came bursting through Chara’s chest. It was Az! He was older. Much older. There was no way this was possible. What was happening?

She fell to the floor and Asriel came rushing to her side. 

She smiled at him and lifted her hand to his face. He took it in his and held it tight. He then leaned down and kissed her. It didn’t feel weird. It felt… right. Like she had done it a million times. She kissed back and then felt her body go limp. 

She stared into his eyes as he called out to her in words she couldn’t understand as her vision faded, and she finally died.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The vision then ended and she sat up screaming in the back of a car. 

The car screeched to a stop as the two individuals in the front seat jumped and screamed, looking back at her. 

They all took a moment and then frisk broke the silence. 

“What the hell is going on?” she asked. 

“What do you mean!? What the hell IS going on!?” the man in the front seat yelled. 

There sat a tall young man and a cute woman in the front seat staring at her. 

“Where am I?”

The woman in the front gather herself. 

“Ok. Ok.” She took a deep breath. “you’re in our car. We found you lying on the side of the street in front of that old house in a puddle of your own blood.”

“Ok. Yeah. Yeah I remember now.” She responded.

“and why were you there!?” the man asked. 

“Hey! I’d rather not say thank you very much!”

“Ok. It’s just that we want to get our story straight before we get you to the hospital.” The woman replied. 

“Hospital!?” frisk yelled.

“Yeah. You clearly need some kind of medical assistance you were bleeding out of your side like crazy you must have lost blood or something.”

“No I can’t go to a hospital!”

“Why not?”

Frisk yelled back at them. “Look I just can’t! Now thanks for your hospitality.” She opened the door and grabbed her crutches. “But I have to go. NOW!”

She hit the ground and pain coursed through her body. She fought it, however, and began making her way as quickly as she could to the woods the other side of the street from her. 

The couple was getting out of the car to chase after her.

She had to act quickly. 

After several long minutes of taking as many path changes as she could through the dense forest, she knew she had lost the young couple. 

She sat down to rest beside a large tree and checked her phone. 

Only 1 new message from toriel.

“when are you coming home?” it read.

It was only sent ten minutes ago. 

She quickly replied with an, “I’m on my way now.” And began her journey back through the snow-padded wood. 

She could think of nothing but Chara.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She came up to the door and reached for the handle. She stopped herself. Frisk took a deep breath in before exhaling, and opening the door to her house.

She took off her coat and scarf and put them on the coat rack next to her. 

“hey frisky!” said a voice.

There sat Pandrew, sitting on the couch, by himself. Of course he was the only one there.

“Sup? Az home?”

“Nah. I just let myself in. Dad was bugging me about practicing.”

“Alright.”

“Is… Something bothering you?” he questioned.

“No. I’m just tired from my walk is all.”

He looked at her with extreme scrutiny. “uh huh. Sure.”

“It’s nothing Pandrew. Don’t worry yourself about it.”

“Ok for now. But I’m asking you again later.” He said.

Frisk was about to protest but then realized the futility in that. 

“Fine.” She replied.

She spent the rest of the night watching TV with Pandrew and when Asriel came home, with him. 

When the time came, she went up to bed and began reading. It’s what she always did. She read a book or a fanfiction until she fell asleep every night. This night was no different other than the fact that she couldn’t focus since she had just found out that she was the sibling of a murderous psychopath intent on killing her and everyone she loved. No nothing different at all. 

She did, however eventually fall asleep. To her horror. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hello little Frisky girl.” Chara said with a a sly grin. 

“I’ve got your information.”

Her grin went away. “You do?” 

It was odd seeing this expression from her. It was earnest. Like she actually cared. 

“yes.”

“ok. Who is it?”

“well…”

“What the hell’s wrong? Who is it?”

“It’s…”

“TELL ME WHO IT IS OR SO HELP ME GOD I WILL RIP OUT YOUR- “

“IT’S ME!”

“What?”

“It’s me Chara. I’m your sister. We’re twins.”

“No. That’s… That’s not possible. It can’t be.”

“it is Chara. It’s me.”

She took a step forward. 

“Stay the hell away from me!” Chara screamed.

She was in tears. Chara dreemurr, or Gaster now, was in tears. 

“Chara. I’m sorry but-“

“No you’re not.”

Frisk was taken aback. “Excuse me?”

“You always say that! ‘I’m sorry Chara!’ You never are! You’re a fake! You say you care so much about the people and monstersaround you but you don’t! All you care about is yourself! You’re not sorry for me! You hate me!”

“Chara I- “

“Oh no Frisk. It’s alright. You may hate me but you could never, ever hate me as much as I!”

Her eyes began to glow.

“HATE!” 

She began to rise into the air and the earth started to tremble beneath her. 

“YOU!!!”

A massive blast of energy was released from Chara, knocking frisk back to the floor. 

Chara emerged from a cloud of smoke and stared at her hands.

She smiled viciously and raised them. Pillars upon pillars of stone began to rise from the void. Frisk was forced to get up and dodge out of the way. 

“Earth magic eh? Not too shabby for an old judge. Wouldn’t you say frisk? Didn’t daddy do a good job on my new powers?”

She jumped into the darkness and out of sight.

Frisk stood warily in the center of the pillars, listening to the laughter coming from seemingly all directions. 

She saw a stone flying towards her head and dodged. 

Chara was running at her full force with two massive boulders dragging behind her.

Frisk forced her hands out and released waves of water towards Chara initiating the battle. 

Stone’s were sent flying into walls of water and water was shot into walls of stone as the battle progressed, with neither side taking a distinct advantage. Frisk was very clearly better at magic since she had practiced longer, but Chara’s pure rage made her incredibly strong.

Finally, a bone flew towards Frisk’s leg and glanced it, taking a large cut from the flesh of her calf. 

Frisk fell onto one knee and screamed in pain.

Her pain, however, drove her to more strength. 

She released a new technique she was working on. 

Chara revealed herself and sprinted at Frisk, trying to unleash a final blow to finish the battle, but she wasn’t ready for what happened next. 

Frisk raised her hands and in them appeared a long, thin stream of water in the shape of a bow. 

A single stream connected one side to another and in that stream laid a strung arrow made entirely of water. 

Frisk pulled the string back, lining up the shot. She released the arrow and nailed Chara in the shoulder. 

Chara screamed in agony and fell to the ground, defeated. 

Frisk slowly said, “I’m sorry Chara. And I mean that.” As the dream faded away

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She awoke to Asriel shaking her in her bed. The lights were still off and he was whisper-yelling. 

“Frisk! You’re finally awake! Thank God!”

She sat up and looked around. Nothing out of place. And, strangely enough, there was no injury on her calf. 

“Frisk what was that?”

“Chara.”

“What? Now? After so long without her?”

“Yep.”

“What did she want?”

“Nothing. She just tried to kill me.”

“God this is horrible.”

Frisk cut him off by desperately hugging him and bursting into tears. She tried to be as quiet as she could be. 

They sat there for a while, with him trying to comfort her and with her crying into his furry shoulder.

She finally stopped and Asriel spoke. 

“Ok. Well I’m going to go back to bed. Goodnight frisk.” 

“No!” She yelled in the most hushed tone possible. 

“Jesus Christ are we still doing this frisk?”

She nodded and adjusted to one side of the bed. 

Asriel rolled his eyes and got into bed on the other side.

She rolled onto her side facing away from him and closed her eyes. 

Once it had been about half an hour, she felt his arms go around her and she smiled. 

She thought a bit about her vision. How Asriel had kissed her. How it felt so right. Maybe she was in love. She knew that he could never know that but maybe. Just maybe. He felt the same. 

For now though, she just laid there on her side with her best friend behind her, his arms wrapped around her as she fell asleep.

Just like the good old days.


	4. Rowdy Teenagers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quite frankly, I'm not super proud of this chapter. I think it was poorly done on my part but I don't think I could have done any better since all of my notes that I had are gone. Sorry.

high school wasn’t fun. Frisk had never expected it to be but it was so very different from her already sub-par expectations. It had been about a year since the events with Chara and frisk had begun to accept it ever so slowly. It was certainly very odd to her even still, but she didn’t have a lot of time to focus on it. It was her junior year now. Her sophomore year was an odd one for sure, basically spent figuring out what the hell she wanted to do with her life. Her friendships had grown a serious amount and although there was quite a bit of drama, her closest friends had stayed with her the whole way through. She had made a few new ones though and none was as close to her as Preston the Tem. Of course, Az and I were also her closest friends, but Preston was extremely special to her. He was extremely bouncy, energetic, almost to the point of concern. One day he had come to school having drank two five hour energies. That was certainly an interesting day. 

In sophomore year there was a trip that the band took to a camp during the winter. It was quite a lovely place. There was a large lake in the center of the camp used for ice skating rather than swimming considering that it was frozen over. Not many people were there, merely a couple more bands of similar size to them. The cabins ran in a line curving around a hill, rising sequentially in lines as the hill increased in altitude. There was a mess hall down at the bottom of the hill with a gift shop next to it. Quaint little place it was. The deck was covered in snow every day they were there and as far as playing the instruments went as the cold usually doesn’t work very well with them, there was a lovely practice building, however most of the time was spent in individual groups to practice or to just spend time with the other campers. 

One day during a free period where everyone could do whatever they wanted, Az and Frisk’s group decided to go ice skating. Az used to go all the time in the underground and even a little once they had gotten to the surface but frisk, even though she had gone through so many a snowy winter above ground, had never gone ice skating. So naturally, she needed someone to teach her. 

That’s where Asriel came in. 

“come on!” The goat shouted

“You need to shut the hell up.” 

He chuckled. “It’s easy. Just skate to me.” He skated about 10 feet away from where they stood and turned around to face her. 

She took a deep breath and began towards him. One foot in front of the other, sliding forward, closer, closer… She was almost there.

And then she slipped. 

“Woah there!” Asriel said as his arms swooped down to catch her. They wrapped around her back but rather than pulling her up, she pulled him down. 

He fell on top of her and nearly hit his snout on the ice. 

“Well then. Hello there.” He said.

“Can you..?” she looked down and spoke in a hushed tone

He realized his mistake and stood up. “Ehe. Sorry about that.” He said. He was blushing furiously. 

They stood awkwardly on the ice for a moment and then decided to finally move.

“so do you want to keep going?” He asked.

She chuckled. “No thanks. I think I’m going to get some coffee. Want to come with?”

“Ah sure why not?”

They made their way, slipping and sliding off the ice and towards the coffee shop on the edge of the lake. 

It was some nice coffee. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a few months longer and things had really only gotten weirder between the two children. Junior year was a difficult one to be sure, but the main issue of it was on the social side. Of course, over time the change in each of their minds changed how they thought of one another, and it became even more awkward and their views and ideologies were changing as well so naturally, the only way it could go was down, or not down really. Rather in every direction. Flailing. Uncontrollably. 

Frisk was walking to one of her classes one day when a girl stopped her in the hall and pointed to her saying, “You are one god damn lucky woman.”

Frisk would have asked what that had meant, but before she could, the girl was gone. 

“Odd.” She thought to herself, and then continued on. 

Several days later, something similar happened.

She was, again, walking to class and she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around into the face of a friend from band.

“So, getting frisky with Az are we?” She asked, stood contrapposto in the quad. 

“What?”

“You and Az. You’re a thing right?” 

Frisk recoiled. “What? No! Of course not!”

“Really? I mean, you guys went out a couple of nights ago right?” 

“I mean we went to the movies but- how did you know that?” She questioned. 

“Dan saw you two out to dinner and followed you to the movies. He told me you were dating. I didn’t believe him, but then I noticed you two hugging and stuff a lot and I just kind   
of assumed.”

Frisk couldn’t believe her ears. “First of all, you know what they say about assuming.”

With a roll of her eyes, the friend responded, “Yeah yeah. It makes and ass out of you and me.”

“And second of all, we do that all the time because we like spending time together. AS BROTHER AND SISTER. And third of all, he shouldn’t have followed us, that’s creepy. AND FOURTH OF ALL, we were out to dinner at McDonalds! Did he tell you that part?”

“No.” She replied with a shrug. 

“precisely.”

They stood there awkwardly for a moment until the bell rang, then sprinted to their separate classes desperately. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A couple of days later, Frisk and Az sat in her room, studying and eating a pizza they had ordered. Frisk lay on the bed, looking over the foot towards a scribbled-on piece of paper containing the information to the latest chapter of their history class. 

She had been thinking a lot about what had been happening lately, usually once a day or in public maybe, someone would always comment on her and Az, and it just wasn’t right.   
It made some sense I suppose, they did spend a lot of time together and she did occasionally rest her head on his lap when she was tired, which was always. Ok, so it was pretty apparent then. It made sense. But they weren’t dating, that was weird. Wrong. Why couldn’t people just accept that it was a brother-sister thing? I mean, she couldn’t date him. That would be weird. She- she-

“Frisk?” A pair of pruple eyes stared at her. 

She shook her head. “Yeah?” 

“You alright?” 

Frisk grinned sleepily. “Yeah. Yeah I’m alright.”

He still stared. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah Az. Of course.”

They paused for a moment.

“Hey Az, have people been asking you… If we were a couple?”

He looked shocked. “Oh my God you too?”

“Yeah it’s been happening like every day and it’s getting ridiculous.”

“yeah like, I guess people could think that just since we spend so much time together, but… dating? That’s just… Weird.”

They both paused again. 

“Ok well that was awkward.” She said.

He responded in kind. “Back to studying!”

The night went on and the pizza ran out and when they were on their last cups of coke, Asriel received a text. 

It read, “Hey Azzy boy! There’s going to be a party with a bunch of band people next week. You and Frisk should come! It’s gonna be fun! Trust me!”

A band party. One of the most terrifying and momentous occasions one could partake in. There would be music, and well picked, tasteful music mind you. There would be food and drinks and most likely some kind of alcohol someone would sneak in. These were the kind of parties that end in truth or dare for an entire 4 hours. They were pretty great. 

“Oh nice. Band party next week.” 

“Dude hell yeah!” She exclaimed. 

Asriel laid back on the bed beside Frisk. “Dude how long do you think truth or dare will go on this time?”

Frisk threw her hands into the air and fell back next to him. “I don’t know. Couple hours probably.”

They were both too excited to focus on studying. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The day finally came and what they had not realized when they had gotten the text was that it was not any regular band party. This one was formal. There was an extremely rich kid in band by the name of Josh and his parents were out of town, so naturally he thought it would be best to throw a party for the “totally innocent band kids” which his parents were all for. It would be held at his house. Or really mansion rather. 

Frisk was in her room, getting dressed and made-up. She wore a long, purple dress. The one she was planning to wear to a previous dance before she decided dances were stupid and preferred to stay at home and watch movies with her friends all night. Good choice Frisk. 

She wore the same heart locket from so long ago. That locket had so many memories. Memories of family, of fun, of Az. She wondered what Asriel would look like. Maybe a suit and tie? Or a tuxedo? Who knows? He’d look great in anything. That was just how he was. 

She opened the door and there, in her face, was Asriel, hand raised and eyes wide, seemingly ready to knock. 

“Uh… Howdy!” He said, awkwardly putting his arm down. 

He was dressed up also in purple, Wearing black jeans, a purple button up, a grey vest, and a black bowtie. His fur was trimmed and un-matted. Like she thought he would, he looked gorgeous. He stood there, looking her over and she him and boy was that awkward. 

“You look… really nice!” he stuttered. 

“Thank you!” 

They stood there for a while. 

“OK lets go!” Asriel exclaimed as he turned around and pointed towards the door, charging victoriously towards it. They got in the car and began away towards the party.

“So what’s been going on with you lately?” Asked Asriel.

Frisk looked at him a bit confused. “Hm?”

“how have you been? What have you been doing recently? I don’t feel like I’ve gotten to talk to you much lately.”

Frisk raised an eyebrow. “We literally spent all night studying like last week. We talked a bunch!”

“I mean, yeah, but I mean like personally. How are you doing?”

Frisk chuckled a bit. “I’ve been mostly fine I guess. Mostly just stressed with school and stuff but you know I’ve been like that since like last year.”

He laughed. “Yeah I getcha there!”

“But otherwise I think I’ve been doing pretty ok.”

“That’s good. Good.”

There was silence for a couple of seconds.

Asriel spoke again. This time, significantly quieter. Almost in a hushed, concerned tone. “How has Chara been on you?”

Frisk shrugged. “It’s become mostly normal again. I get by with maybe a cut a night. It really depends. Although, oddly enough, the cuts are disappearing when I wake up now. It’s strange.”

“Maybe you’re just getting stronger?” He suggested. 

“That could be it I guess.”

He took his eyes off the road for a moment. “But?”

“But what?”

He looked back towards the road in front of him. “Well, I’ve known you long enough to know when you’re hiding something from me. And you are. So spill.”

Frisk was caught red handed. “Alright then. I feel… I feel like she, for some reason, is trying less and less to kill me. She starts out calm and such and even sometimes explaining things. Sometimes she even seems sad, like depressed sad. But then she’ll have some strange change of emotion and then she’ll attack me.”

Asriel’s grip around the wheel tightened. “I hate her.”

Frisk recoiled a bit in shock. “What?”

“You heard me.”

“Asriel…”

“No I hate her! Honestly I know how much she used to mean to me but if she is so determined to hurt you, I cannot accept that! She has done too much to hurt you and our family and our friends! She’s not my sister!”

“Az you can’t-“

“You know what? I don’t want to talk about this.” He moved his hand and turned on the radio to a jazz station. “I just need to relax a bit. I’m sorry.”

“That’s… That’s ok Az.” She replied, sitting back into her seat. 

They arrived at the gigantic house in a much better mood. Jazz has that effect of letting people forget their troubles for a time. They had once again started conversing and having a good time again. 

It was a fairly large party. Probably about forty or fifty people present and they just about filled up the main room of the house. It was honestly spectacular. 

There was a projector playing a movie against a large wall and a huge sound system and although most people weren’t actually watching the movie, they hung around while it played. A good portion of people just were exploring the massive house seeing where everything went. Outside there was a grill and a firepit. Marshmallows were being toasted and people were being roasted. No joke. They call it a toasty roast battle. Those were always fun and everyone knew they were just good fun so no one’s feelings really got hurt. That was always nice. Naturally, there was a lot fo food lying around and as the children had predicted, there was alcohol. Not much, just a little bit of beer, and while neither Frisk nor Asriel partook in it, many did. And this many included Preston the Tem. However, one might find that in such a small body, blood alcohol concentration is much much higher. So after just half a bottle of beer, Mr. Tem was nearly blackout drunk. That was an interesting experience, but after several bouts of vomiting and some very odd things said and done, he passed out on the couch. 

Frisk and Asriel were having quite a good time. They had generally the same group of friends so they were able to hang out together for a good portion of the night. They laughed, talked, played a 25 turn game of Mario Party with several drunk friends. That was an odd one. Personally, I mostly hung with them the whole time. It was a good time.   
Towards the end of night, most people had left already. It was approaching midnight and the people that were still there were either extremely drunk, extremely tired or passed out on the couch, or they just had nothing better to do. They played truth or dare already, and while many strange and awkward things had already happened, some people had other things in mind.

Preston had woken up again, and in a drunken slur, he said, “Hey. Who’s up for a game of bottle spinning?”

“You mean spin the bottle?” Someone else asked.

“Yeah that.” 

People were nodding in agreement. It was an interesting proposal. Most of them had never played before. It would certainly be interesting. Although, there was a problem. 

“wait woah woah.” Asriel interjected. “What about Frisk and I?”

The drunk tem responded sarcastically. “what about’cha?”

“We’re brother and sister dumbass.” Frisk replied playfully.

“Who cares?”

A friend of their chimed in. “look, the chances of that happening are so low. It’s never going to happen. You’ve got nothing worry about.”

They thought about it for a moment and then agreed. 

The group sat down in a circle. 

The bottle spun rapidly and landed squarely on Preston. His eyes widened as much as they could. 

“Wow, already? Ok!”

They spun again, and it landed on another boy. Preston shrugged and grabbed him by the face, pulling him in and kissing him on the lips for precisely 3 seconds. The other boy recoiled, but Preston seemed satisfied with himself so they all moved on. 

Several other people were forced to kiss, including myself and Frisk, which was… extremely awkward, to say the least. 

That was when it finally happened.

The bottle spun in a circle before landing on Az who had, as of yet, not had to kiss anyone. 

“Damn I was hoping to walk away unscathed.” He chuckled.

Frisk was a tad worried at this point, but suppressed her fear, sure that it would land on anyone but her. That did not, however, negate her fear of it happening. 

The bottle spun again and Frisk crossed her fingers hoping for it not to fall on her. The bottle slowed and Frisk closed her eyes. She heard a laugh.

Her eyes opened and she saw the bottle pointing directly at her. 

She looked like a deer in the headlights, eyes wide and staring blankly at the bottle. She looked up at Az. He was staring at the bottle with the same expression.

Everybody cheered.

Frisk started to speak. “Look guys I don’t know, he’s my brother and stuff so-“ 

Preston began another drunken rant. “You two aren’t even siblings! You don’t have the same god damn DNA! You don’t look alike! You’re really not that similar to each other! The only reason you call each other siblings is because you live together! Frisk, you weren’t even legally adopted! Your dad even lives with you and the fact that you live together in no way makes you siblings!”

Frisk and Asriel stared at him blankly. 

“So JUST KISS will you?”

Frisk was still in shock, but Asriel shrugged and moved closer. 

“What are you doing?” 

He spoke in a tone she couldn’t exactly make out. “Look we’re going to have to no matter what we say so we might as well just get it over with.”

“I- I-“ She took a breath. “Fine.” 

She leaned in slowly and closed her eyes, preferring not to look at the scene that was about to occur. Although, is this not what she had wanted? At least a little bit? Of course not. No that wasn’t possible, she wasn’t in love. But perhaps-

She felt a pair of lips touch hers and she inhaled sharply. A strange sense of euphoria and dread mixed together filled up her body. She shuddered. The heat of breath, the subtle pulse in her head, the feeling of guilt that clouded her mind. She opened her eyes to see his also wide open, staring at her intently. They pulled apart.

In that moment, three seconds had felt like hours. It was the best, and the worst, she had ever felt.

They both remained quiet, blankly staring at each other until Preston butted in. 

“Oh my god! You just kissed!” He broke into hysterical laughter. 

Frisk’s trance broke then. She turned away from Asriel and blushed intensely. There was an oddly quiet pause in the room even through the Tem’s laughter. 

“Well then” Asriel coughed out. “Back to the game I suppose?” 

The awkwardness died down slightly and they returned to the game, however, Frisk could never really focus. She kissed several other people that night, but none of them were nearly the same. She felt strangely… Absent. She didn’t show it, but the feeling was there, and although she eventually let that feeling of drifting go, the memory of that moment sat in the back of her mind for the rest of the night.

Both she and Az were able to have some more fun playing games and chatting with their friends, and when the night was over, quite early in the morning I might add, the two got in Asriel’s car and drove home. 

“So.” Asriel said leaning over and elbowing frisk from the driver’s seat. 

She laughed and punched him in the arm, “What?” She said.

“That was interesting.” 

She smiled, “yeah it was fun. Like when you had to kiss Andy!”

“Yup. Not a bad kisser that Pandrew.” 

There was a long pause. 

“That’s uh… That’s not what I meant though.” He spoke through his teeth. 

“Then what did you mean?”

He grinned nervously, 

“we uh… We kinda kissed back there.” He said with a joking accent. 

Frisk grinned. “Yeah. I guess we did.”

“Probably one of the weirder things I’ve done. Kiss my sister. Oh god that sounds horrible.”

Frisk laughed. “Yeah but you know I guess Preston is kind of right. I was really mad at him when he said it, but he was right. We’re not exactly siblings, more just really close friends. Like family, but… Not. You know?”

“Yeah. Like Undyne kind of. An aunt but not. Just non-blood family.”

“Yup. So it’s not incest.” She blurted out.

“Jesus Christ man! That’s a bit of a harsh word to use.”

There was a pause.

“Still really god damn weird though.” He said. 

“Oh yeah definetly. Let’s agree to never do that again.”

“Absolutely.”

They both laughed. Surprisingly, they had both managed to play off such an awkward and slightly horrifying experience as a joke and even somewhat rationalized it. 

They arrived home early and all the lights were off, which meant Asgore had made Toriel go to bed awhile earlier. They hugged and said goodnight and walked off to their respective rooms. Frisk opened the door quietly so as not to make noise and slid into bed. Now, she was alone with her thoughts.

She let out a long, exhausted sigh. “That was nice” She thought. Question was, what was nice? All of it, right? Even that kiss? Well, yeah. It was nice, for as weird as it may have been. She began to think about Az, how he always felt like a brother to her, but in all those years of knowing him, he had felt like more than that somehow. He really was her best friend. And she did suppose she might have had some sort of feelings for him. But not anymore of course! That was just strange! 

These thoughts kept her awake for about an hour until she heard her door opening.

“Frisk?” It was asriel’s voice.

“yeah?”

He spoke in a hushed tone. “You ok? I assumed that since you weren’t snoring so extremely loud like you do every night, that you weren’t asleep. And usually that means you are up thinking.”

“Well… Yeah.”

His silhouette walked over and sat in the office chair by her desk. “You wanna talk about it?”

“Nah. Just some stuff with Chara. You know. The usual.”

“Alright, well I guess I’ll be going then.” He said, standing. 

“Wait. Can you uh… Do you want to…”

He chuckled. “Sure.” He said, climbing into her bed.

He was warm. The fur helped with that. That night, he had felt warmer and softer than ever before. Maybe she was still just a little hyped up from the party. Maybe she was just really tired. 

Or maybe… 

Maybe she was in love.


	5. Memories of Shadows and Hopes Long Forgotten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually surprisingly proud of this chapter. I legitimately had fun writing it which is something that's been hard for me to do with this story for a while. I tore my own fannon to shreds, but hey, that's alright. I enjoyed it and hopefully you enjoy this. Some stuff is going DOWN this chapter.

Frisk felt a shiver go down her spine, trailing slowly like a finger, menacing and cold. She was laying on a hard surface and her, now short, hair was splayed out across whatever it was. Her eyes opened and before her stood a smiling Chara. 

“Hey there Frisky!” She jeered.

Frisk stood and acknowledged her. “Hello Chara.”

“I have some news!” She said in a drawn out tone. 

Frisk sighed. “But?”

“But what?”

“We both know that’s not it.” Frisk said accusingly. “What’s the catch?”

Chara shrugged. “Fine. The catch is that I don’t have the full story.”

“Explain.”

“My my frisk. A little harsh are-”

“I’m tired of this Chara. You have been doing this more and more. I’ve just come to a point where I don’t care anymore. I’ve got a good life. I’ve been keeping things up in school and in work and with my friends and you are becoming just a nuisance to me. And we’ve passed the point where you think you have the power to keep me here. So honestly I really don’t care all that much about whatever stupid stuff happened before I got this life. The life I’ve been living for the past eight years! So it’s time to just stop Chara! God, just-”

“It’s the name of our orphanage.” Chara said, interrupting her. 

“I don’t care Chara.” Frisk said, her hands forcibly put at her sides. 

“St. James Orphanage.” 

“Chara… I don’t care.”

The smile was suddenly wiped away from Chara’s face. Before she could do anything, Chara was on her knees, pleading with Frisk.

“Frisk! I need this! I’ve almost got it all together.” 

Frisk looked down and saw tears in Chara’s eyes. She had seen her sad and emotional before but never desperate. 

She leaned down and stared her demonic sister in the face. 

“No Chara. Leave me out of this from now on. Pull whatever useless information that you can out of my head. Solve your pointless mystery! Leave me out of it, though.”

And with that, She stood and walked away, into the darkness.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Frisk’s eyes once again opened, but now to the sight of her ceiling fan, spinning aimlessly above her. She sat up in her bed and noticed the book lying on her chest. She must have fallen asleep reading it. 

It was a good book. The story centered around a young girl, taken from her home, who meets a dragon and becomes essentially its daughter. At least, that was as far as she had read. 

She was a senior now, much to her dismay. She enjoyed high school now, for as difficult as it was. Her friends kept it interesting for her, and her brother- or friend or whatever she called him- was able to help her with a lot of her work. It was nice to have a study partner who knew so much, even though he denied it. Asriel hated school. He loved the friends he had made and he had even become the band’s drum major in his career, but he simply hated everything else about it. He wasn’t much of a book-learning kind of person anyway. You could hand him a piece of paper and a pen and some masterpiece, whether it be a poem, short story, drawing, or musical score would come out of it. He was a creative person, while frisk preferred to study many different kinds of things, and found herself a very good student of science and math, particularly physics and engineering. She was the kind of person who would make various contraptions of gears and springs, take them apart, and then build something new with them. They were both artisans, in their own respects. She was a tradesman, working part-time under a blacksmith in a shop for carpentry, leatherworking, blacksmithing, and machinery. He, on the other hand, worked a part time job at a Wendy’s, saving enough money to audition for the best youth symphony in the state, located conveniently in downtown Ebott.

Frisk looked around some and her room sat there, perfectly, with the exception of the fan. She looked over to her alarm clock to check the time. 3:30. Too early. However, she didn’t want to go back to sleep at the risk of another run in with Chara, so she stood from her bed and walked to the desk against the wall and opened her laptop. Too bright. She lowered the brightness and, when her eyesight returned to her, she began browsing the internet. This was her routine whenever she woke up too early. It didn’t happen too often, but often enough for it to be a routine. She put a pair of headphones on and put on a song. It was a nice piano tune, somewhat jazzy, but still calm. She was tired. She opened a 3D program on her computer and clicked on the file containing a project for school. She was oddly grateful for this early morning wake up. It let her do a lot of homework before school. She smiled sleepily, sighed, and got to work.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the morning, or late morning, rather, she dressed herself for the day and went downstairs for breakfast. It was a nice meal, waffles and bacon. She found it absurd that Toriel had the time in the morning to make such a breakfast but who was she to talk? She had just spent hours working on homework. Asriel sat next to her, practically falling asleep in the syrup and his fur was matted on one side of his face. He must have slept there.

When she finished eating, she went back upstairs, prepped her backpack, and got ready, doing her whole morning routine. 

When it was time for them to leave, she insisted she drive since Az was so tired and they jumped into the car. 

“So how’d that project go?” Said Asriel through a yawn. 

“Not bad. Finished up this morning.”

He nodded lazily. “Another early morning?”

She shrugged and turned on the radio. A song from the 80s came on and they sat, listening to it the rest of the way to school.

When they arrived, Frisk went to her classes and Asriel to his. They shared a few, but mostly, they were separate. People had seemed to stop spreading the rumor of them dating a while back. Frisk still thought of it as weird, although strangely not wrong, per se. She had accepted the fact that they really weren’t siblings and figured that if the opportunity came to her, she might as well take it. 

In the past year, she had become a very “go-with-the-flow” kind of person. She had stopped taking her studies so seriously and found herself much more relaxed. This is why she refused Chara that previous night. She was content with what she had. She didn’t want any more, and she figured what happened before would just be depressing. Sans, on the other hand, would most likely jump at the opportunity to learn anything about Frisk. Her past was a mystery to all of them, and while she mostly didn’t care, others did. Sans was just worried about his daughter. 

She hadn’t used magic in a while. At least not in combat. She’d use it to play pranks on her friends or simply entertain herself (or when she was thirsty), but as she had said in the dream with Chara, she was very clearly stronger. Chara had nothing to do but train and dig in her mind all day, but even so, Frisk was always better than her, and at some point, Chara had just stopped trying. 

So the day went on and school ended. Asriel and Frisk went out to lunch and talked a bit. Asriel said something about a girl. Frisk teased him and they went along with it. She was happy for him, whoever this girl was. Although there was this underlying feeling of… Something. Perhaps her old feelings were resurfacing? No that couldn’t be it. She decided not to think about that. 

She still liked him a little though. She didn’t know what to do about that really. She figured she’d take the opportunity if it came to her, but did she really want that? Wasn’t he her brother? No, but he did still feel like one. It was just… Complicated. He was really nice. And handsome. And literally everything she could ever want from a man. But it was just… Weird. But also not weird. She didn’t quite know what to do. Asriel Dreemurr was the only person she knew who could bring her out of her calm and into distress. She hated it. But she loved it as well. Again, it was just complicated. 

They left the restaurant they were eating at and went home, spending the rest of the day watching videos on youtube and doing homework.

When it came time for bed, Frisk was concerned. If it came down to it, just refuse her again right? Of course. 

As she lay there, reading, she thought about Chara and all of the misfortune she had brought upon her and her family. She wondered if Asriel still hated her. As much as Chara was a nuisance and she was literally a demon child, for some reason, Frisk didn’t think her sister deserved to be hated. Simply pitied. 

And as these thoughts flowed through her mind, her eyes drifted shut and she was carried off to sleep. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Frisk please.” Was the first thing she heard when she entered the dream. 

Frisk opened her eyes and saw Chara’s face before her, tears streaming from it. 

“I can’t do this on my own! I have to know! I learned a little bit more today! Maybe it can help you figure it out?”

Frisk sighed, sitting up. “Chara… I told you before.”

“I know Frisk, but please! I promise to leave you alone for as long as I can!”

“Chara no!”

Chara took her hands off of Frisk and stepped back.

“Fine.” She grunted.

Frisk felt a surge of energy being built up.

“You know you can’t beat me. I’m too-”

She was interrupted by a sudden hit to the stomach. She had only seen a blur and before she knew it, she was flying backwards. She slid across the black, tar-like ground and recovered when she could. She surveyed her surroundings. Nothing. 

She heard a shout from above her and looked up only in time to see a rage-filled chara, with her fist raised and a glove of stone around it.   
Frisk was knocked into the ground and Chara stood over her. Her face was filled with rage. She bore a terrifying smile, one which frisk had not seen in a long time, and around her there was a blood-red aura, heat resonating from it. She placed her foot on Frisk’s stomach and pressed down, forcing the breath out of her. She leaned down and stared Frisk directly in the face, smiling and bringing herself closer, until her mouth reached Frisk’s ear. 

“St. James Orphanage. That’s where we went after mom died. Now you’re going to tell me what happened while we were there. And if you can’t remember, you’re dead.”

A cloud of dust swirled around Chara’s hand for a moment, and when it settled, there sat a photograph with her fingers clasped around the edges. 

“I found this after you left last night. Turns out I’m most focused when I’m angry. Maybe it can refresh your memory a bit.”

Chara turned the photo around showed it to Frisk. It was an old polaroid, torn at one of the corners and certainly very beaten up. The picture was of Frisk, Chara, and another, older man. Neither of the girls looked particularly happy, and the old man looked like he was forcing a smile. Behind them was a sign, which in bold letters said “Saint James Orphanage.”

Suddenly, Frisk felt faint, and she went limp. The last thing she saw was Chara standing above her, smiling and waving goodbye before her eyes rolled back in her head and she lost consciousness.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before her was a scene that felt familiar, but she didn’t fully recognize. It was a bland, boring room with two beds, a desk, and a metal radiator. Frisk looked down at her body and saw that it was glowing a faint gold color and emitted a white, wispy fog. 

The door opened suddenly and there walked in two small girls, one wearing a blue and purple striped shirt, and the other a green and yellow one. That had to be her and Chara. 

They looked young. Maybe seven or eight years old. They had bruises on their faces and bodies. They seemed fairly fresh. Frisk was crying. They walked into the room and through the older Frisk, which was odd to her, but she figured it would happen. 

“I hate him.” Said Chara. 

The young Frisk responded in kind. “I do too.”

Chara seemed to recoil a bit at this 

“Frisk. You- You hate him? That’s not like you.”

“I do though. He beats us. He’s mean. I wish he were dead…” She replied.

Chara grabbed one of Frisk’s shoulders. “You don’t mean that.”

“You do when you say it. What makes me any different?”

Chara smiled. “You’re nice. I’m not.”

Young Frisk smiled back and replied, “Thanks.”

Strangely though, the real Frisk found herself mouthing the words with her. 

The scene faded slowly and a new one appeared. In this one, she was standing in a hallway and a man, the man from the picture, was dragging Chara by the wrist towards a door. 

She stepped forward to intervene but remembered that she was restrained by the bounds of time and could do nothing. The young Frisk trailed behind them, screaming and yelling. She ran up to the man and hit him in the side. He turned towards her and slapped her in the face, forcing her to the ground.

They looked a bit older now. More bruises, some cuts. They didn't look very good. 

The man opened the door and someone else, a man in a button up and a cardigan, stood behind it. Little Frisk stood up and ran around a corner, a sliver of her eye in view of the door. Chara was handed over to the man behind the door and when she had taken one last look inside, it shut behind her. The man sighed and walked away, turning the corner opposite young Frisk and walking down the hall. She started crying. Suddenly the real Frisk felt heavy and realized that the fog around her was going away. The light surrounding her was fading, and with a sharp breath, she felt herself, fully corporeal, in the hallway of the orphanage, facing the door. She felt a pair of eyes watching her and she turned around to see a head peeking around the corner. 

“Hello.” Said Frisk.

Before she had time to say another word, the young version of herself had closed the gap between them and held onto Frisk, crying violently. Frisk was taken aback by it, but when she regained her bearings, she wrapped her arms around her younger self and sat there for a moment, until the little girl was mostly done crying, and Frisk pulled her back holding, onto her shoulders. 

“What’s wrong?”

The girl burst into tears again and between gasps of air was able stutter out, “Chara. They’re taking her away. We can’t live together anymore.”

“She’s going to another orphanage?”

Frisk nodded through her tears and hugged her once again. 

They sat there for a while in silence, letting the child cry herself out. When she stopped, the present frisk asked, “What’s your name?” 

It was an odd question, considering she already knew, but she wanted to take away the tension from the conversation. Oftentimes taking someone’s mind off something is the best way to help. 

“It’s Frisk.” Replied the girl.

Frisk chuckled to herself. “Mine too.”

The little Frisk stared in awe of her. She had probably never seen another person by the same name as her. The elder never had. 

Old Frisk heard a voice from behind her.

“Who are you!?” 

She whipped around and saw the man that had dragged Chara away from her. He was standing a ways away from them on the other side of the hallway. Frisk felt a pair of arms wrap around her leg and heard faint crying behind her. 

She suddenly felt light as a feather, she was being raised up and engulfed in the fog once again. She reached out towards the small girl behind her, and was able only to shout “Frisk!” before the scene changed once again. 

Now it was only the young Frisk, once again slightly older, sitting alone in the same room she had shared with Chara. Frisk’s head was hung and there was a newspaper in her lap.   
The title read, “Orphan gone missing.” And the subtitle was, “young girl suspected to have fallen into Mt. Ebott.” 

Frisk could tell what had happened. She reached out to touch her younger self’s face, only to comfort her a bit, but before she could, her surroundings changed and she was in another place; another time.

She was in the hallway again. No one else was there. She took a step forward and as she did, the door down the hall swung open and out ran the young Frisk. She looked extremely panicked. She ran through Frisk and opened the door to the outside. Frisk followed her through the door.

She recognized it. It was downtown Ebott, almost exactly as it was eight years ago. She chased her young self down the streets and alleyways before they arrived in the town square. There used to be a place in the town square with a big fountain surrounded by big, yellow flowers. Buttercups. She and Chara used to love buttercups. Wait, how did she remember that? 

Young Frisk stopped at the fountain. There was a large crowd of people. They had weapons. Some with guns, others baseball bats, others knives. Both frisks pushed their way through until they arrived at the very front. There was a police line and behind that line was Chara. Chara in the arms of a monster. She wasn’t moving. Her eyes were closed. The monster looked distraught. Sad, almost. It knelt down and layed her in a bed of buttercups. It stood slowly, turning around, and began to walk away. 

That was when the first shot was fired. The monster took it forcefully, stumbling and catching himself before he fell. He stood again, looked behind him, and walked forward again. 

Another shot fired, and all hell broke loose. Gunshots left and right, people running into the line of fire, being shot down. The monster was taking hits, but continued walking. He screamed in pain. Frisk knew who it was. She knew what would happen. She couldn’t watch. She looked down to Frisk to find her gone. She ran around a bit and found her at the body of her sister. She was kneeling by it, crying. 

The scene faded once again. 

Now she was back in the room at the orphanage. It looked almost all the same. Frisk was sat on her bed, now very much older, by at least a year.   
The room looked mostly the same. It was painted differently, and there was only one bed, but the bed was in the same place and the desk still sat next to the radiator. On the desk, however, was a vase of several dead, rotting yellow flowers. Buttercups. Frisk sat on the bed and was fiddling with something in her hands. It was an old kitchen knife. Next to her sat a small sheet of paper with writing on it. The young girl stood slowly, grabbed a backpack, and walked out the door.  
Frisk, having been left in the room, approached the paper. It was addressed to one Mr. Flathers. 

It read as such.

“Dear Mr. Flathers.

I wanted to write this to tell you you’re never going to see me again. I’m going into the mountain. And I swear on my life that I will kill every last monster under that oversized hill we call our ‘greatest landmark.’ I don’t care if people are starting to like the monsters. I can’t believe people are on their side. They killed my sister. I’ll never forgive them. I don’t care if the monster that killed my sister was ‘laying her to rest.’ I don’t believe that for a second. Whatever that thing was, it deserves to die. And nothing will stop me before it’s dead. Don’t bother trying to stop me. You’re already too late. And if I die down there, I’ll die a martyr. Those Ivanoffs are right. We were right to lock them up down there. And if you ask me, genocide was a better option. 

Goodbye.

Frisk Amelia Gaster

PS. I’ve always hated you. Chara did too. Go die in a hole.”

Frisk was in tears. She had written this. She had written this hateful letter. She agreed with the Ivanoffs. She would have preferred genocide. She and Chara were no different after all. And to think that only a handful of days later, she would reappear out of the mountain, completely changed. She would be the hero and Chara the villain. What had happened to Chara in that timespan to make her so… Chara like? Frisk was no hero. She wasn’t the ambassador the monsters deserved. Chara was so much purer. Frisk had been tainted by something she didn’t fully understand. Where was Az now? She needed to hug him. Tell him how sorry she was. How much she loved him. 

Frisk felt her body lifted out from the memory and she found herself once again laying on the ground with Chara standing over her. Chara looked faint. Had she seen all that? 

She dropped the old photo and fell to the ground beside Frisk. 

Frisk arose to her knees and began weeping. She couldn’t stop. She couldn’t get over her feeling of disgust towards her former self. She, in 8 years, had spent so much of her time working to protect her family of monsters, and she didn’t even know that she had found them in a quest to kill them. Murder all of them. She had meant to commit genocide before she even entered the underground. All of those times she killed everyone… Those were just her acting out what she initially wanted to do. But the voice in the back of her head, telling her to stop. Who was that? Was it Frisk? Was it Chara? Was it only because of Frisk’s tainted past that she suppressed her natural pacifism and desired for blood. The blood of the people who would become her family? Who were, biologically, her family? She couldn’t handle it.

She looked towards Chara, face full of tears. Chara was stood up, staring at her. She looked terrified.

“You were- I was-” She stopped there and turned tail, running into the dark. 

Frisk was left, all alone, with her tears and the weight of her sins. She screamed into the abyss. 

And the dream ended.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Frisk awoke with a jolt, in a cold sweat. She wasn’t crying. 

“Where is Az?” She immediately thought to herself.

She tore off the sheets and walked briskly to Asriel’s room. She peeked inside and saw the sheets at the bottom of the bed with the window open next to it. He had left. What was wrong? Where was he?

She knew where he was. A long forgotten hangout. An old place out in the woods behind their house overlooking the ocean, a lighthouse standing tall and proud, and a sandy beach far down below. He must be at the lookout. 

Her focus shifted from her own problem, to his. No matter what she was dealing with, this was always the case. They looked to each other for comfort. All those years ago when she had been hit by that brick, or when she hurt him in the Gaster incident. All of those times, she had looked past her own insecurities and problems, preferring his. Her cycle of grief had a play and a pause button. Even now, when she had essentially figured out that her life was a lie, her focus wasn’t on herself. 

She climbed through the window and walked into the woods, in nothing but her pajamas. 

She walked for a ways. She remembered where it was. How could she forget? She walked barefoot through the trees and the sounds of the rustling of the creatures that lurked in the night filled her ears.

The night was like a painting. Beautiful watercolors filled the sky, mixing and being interrupted by small specks of white light. The trees were blurry without her glasses, and they looked like post impressionist brushstrokes. Like those of Van Gogh. It truly was a starry night. 

She came, after a while, to an opening in the trees, and she saw the blurry outline of a goat-thing. It was Asriel, just as she had expected. He was sat on the old tree trunk, looking out into the night. 

“Feeling edgy are we?” She shouted out at him. 

She saw his outline jump and look back at her.

“Frisk!?”

She laughed nervously. She was still a bit shaken from her dream. “Who else?”

She approached the stump and was suddenly able to see him in full view. He was fully clothed. He sat there, looking into the night, dressed in full jeans, shirt and jacket.

She saw an object in his hands. He was fidgeting with whatever it was. 

She sat down on the trunk next to him. 

“What’s that?” She asked. 

He looked down at the object he was holding and jumped a bit, making a small goat noise. 

“Oh, uh… Well uh… You might need these.” He handed the thing to her.

She took it in her hand and realized what it was. It was her glasses. She put them on, a bit confused.

“Why do you have these?” She questioned.

“Oh, just thinking about things. You just so happen to be one of them.”

She laughed and punched him in the arm. “Well thanks.”

There was a pause. 

“So what’s wrong?” She asked.

“What? Nothing. I just came out here to think.”

She didn’t believe that for a second. “Oh yeah, you just woke up in the middle of the night, got dressed, and walked out to a place we haven’t been to in years just to think. Totally nothing wrong. Spill the beans.”

He sighed. “Fine. You’re right. Look, It’s… It’s about a girl. The same one I mentioned at lunch.”

Frisk was a tad surprised. “All of this for a girl?” She pointed all around her.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, yeah. She’s a special girl.”

“Oh, well ok.” Frisk’s tone changed slightly. She didn’t know why. It became more solemn. Strangely distant. Sad, almost.

“Ok, look.” He began. “Have you ever seen someone and you’ve liked them for so long, and you want so badly to try to get with them, but you don’t want to mess anything up, simply because you have a lasting relationship? Like, it feels weird, but you want it so bad, but you’re scared of messing things up? Does that make sense?”

“Yeah, that makes complete sense, actually.” She replied, sniffling a bit. 

She began crying. She didn’t know what from. I could have been just from the dream she had or something else, but she couldn’t control herself. 

“Frisk? Frisk! What’s wrong?” He put his hands on her shoulders.

She didn’t respond. She only continued her sobbing.

“Frisk!” He continued yelling.

She couldn’t control it. She couldn’t stop. Maybe it was just years of emotion coming out all at once.

He then did something she had never expected. He grabbed her by the face, pulled her close, leaned in, and kissed her on the lips. It was passionate. She stopped crying immediately, suddenly filled with shock. What? What had he done? She didn’t understand. She didn’t kiss back.

He pulled away slowly, his eyes wide. She stared at him, her eyes full of water, and her cheeks still wet. 

“I’m so sorry!” He said quickly and began to run off.

Her trance was broken then and she shouted back at him.

“Az!”

She took off after him.

She ran after him for some time through the trees and bushes of the forest until they were led down onto the beach below them and she finally caught up to him. She had always been faster than him. 

She jumped on him and tackled him to the ground. She turned him to face upwards. He was crying now. She was too. She smiled and laughed a laugh of pure relief and joy through her tears as she leaned down. And she kissed him. She sat there, straddled over his shaking body, grabbing him by the face and kissing him. She felt him respond in kind, grabbing her head and kissing back. There were tears streaming down both of their faces as they lay there on that beach, crying and kissing. Happy tears. Sad tears. Stressed tears. Panicked tears. Neither of them knew exactly what to do with themselves other than lay there in the sand, in love. 

They were in love. That was for sure. Frisk hadn’t realized how much she really had wanted this, even though she told herself so often that she didn’t. Asriel knew from the start. 

They pulled away from each other and began laughing hysterically. She got off of him and layed down next to him. He leaned over onto his side and looked her in the face. 

“So yeah.” He sniffled out. “You’re her.”

She laughed. “I guess I am.”

He chuckled a small bit and pointed to her face.

“This is why I brought those glasses out here. Because when you first put those on and I saw those big green eyes of yours was the first time… It was the first time I realized… I love you.”

“I love you too Az.”

That beach would be their refuge for the rest of that glorious night.


	6. What Next?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the next day, and Frisk and Asriel have some explaining to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I guess I'm not entirely dead? I know I haven't written anything in months and I'm sorry but this fic honestly kind of slid to the back of my mind through everything else I'm involved in right now. I'm still hoping to finish it. Especially since I'm so close to the end. I'm sorry I haven't written but I'm going to finish it.

When Asriel’s eyes opened, he was greeted by the pleasant, warm hues of the early morning. A sea of purples, blues, and oranges filled the dawn sky in a stunning display as the colors collided, creating a chaotically beautiful gradient. His pocket was buzzing. It must have been the alarm he had set so he and Frisk could get back before anyone woke up. His eyes drifted down to her. Her hair was strewn over his chest and her face was buried in his armpit. He chuckled, wondering how it smelled down there. Feeling a chill on his back, he reached around looking for his jacket before remembering that he had put it on Frisk before they went to sleep. Silly Frisk; not wearing anything warm in the woods. He didn’t mind though. His fur was warm enough.

He sat up and Frisk groaned a bit beneath him. 

He laughed, nudging her a bit. “Frisk. It’s time to get up.”

“What time is it?” She mumbled.

“5:30.”

She let out a louder groan and let her head back down. “Not time yet.”

Asriel smiled. “Actually, it’s exactly when we planned on getting up.”

“No.” She replied bluntly.

“Alright. Would you prefer that Sans find us both out of the house?”

“He won't be awake for... a long time.” She said, yawning.

“Alright then. How about Toriel?” He raised an eyebrow.

“And I’m up!” Frisk declared, wide awake with Asriel laughing, offering a hand to help her up.

She accepted the hand and felt herself rise to her feet. 

“Oh!” She exclaimed reaching to one of her sleeves. “This is yours.”

He held up a hand. “No, I’m fine. It’ll be more cold for you if I take it back.”

“Oh what a gentleman!” She teased.

He grinned and turned, offering an arm, which Frisk took as the two began to walk through the woods behind their house. 

“So…” Asriel began. “How do you want to break it to them?” he raised an arm and put it around her shoulder. 

She responded by wrapping both of her arms around him and hugging him as she walked. She poked her head out from its furry pillow and spoke. 

“I don’t really know. Just come straight out I guess.” 

“And after that?”

She looked up at him, confused. “What do you mean after that?”

“Well, I get that you’re not the ambassador anymore, but you still are an icon of monster acceptance. THE icon I guess. Anti-monster groups will be at your throat for this. Do you think that we should even tell the public?”

Frisk let go of him and began simply walking by his side. “Oh jeez, we’re talking politics. I haven’t touched any of this stuff in a while.”

“Yeah? Well I have been keeping up with it.” He started. “And for whatever stupid reason, the media still has you in their sights. I was working a couple of days ago and I saw this woman come in with a tabloid in her hand with something about you on it! And it was a really recent picture! You might be accepted by everyone you know, and this entire city knows you, but outside of this safe haven, the world is still a really bad place. And there are a lot of people who really don’t like you.”

“Oh. Well I guess I should pay more attention. But if that’s the case, we have to go public, or else the media will find out and frame it as a scandal. I just hope this doesn’t start anything bad.”

“Some people will take small things and make them seem big. Something will happen. Imagine if the world found out about Chara.” 

Frisk stopped. It all came back to her then. Her dream. Her horrifying dream. She felt her breathing get heavier. The letter, the knife, everything that had happened. All of those memories flooded back into her in that dream. She felt every emotion, every feeling of love towards Chara and hate towards the monsters, and she understood, in that moment why the Ivanoffs and anti monster groups existed. She understood the feeling of hating something so much you wanted to kill all of it. But she also understood what it felt like to love someone, to love everyone, to have a family. Through this cacophony of memory and soul wrenching guilt and regret, her mind rushed through all of these emotions. And in that moment, her previous life seemed oddly distant. It was as if she remembered everything, but it felt like deja vu. And the hate which she felt went away. Every feeling of hatred towards the monsters who were truly her family was driven out and she understood. She understood the feeling of hate, but she only felt the feeling of love. And her hate made her love stronger, because she was wrong. And she understood that now. 

And while this message was extremely valuable, it was utterly overwhelming for her to feel so quickly. Frisk fell to her knees. Her eyes went wide and she began to hyperventilate. 

“Frisk!” Asriel shouted, running to her and taking her in his arms. He hugged her close to his body, pressing her heat against his chest. 

She could hear his heartbeat, half of her heart, half of her soul. That was half of her in there. How quickly she went from wishing death upon this very creature to giving him half of herself. He was a part of her now, and she a part of him. And she loved him. Tears began streaming from her eyes as she rode out her panic attack. It was terrifying. She looked to Asriel and, through her gasps for air, she was able to speak. 

“Don’t. Worry. I’m. Ok.” She wheezed. “Bad. Dream.”

Asriel shushed her and began to stroke her hair comfortingly. “It’s ok. It’s all going to be all right. Here.” He freed her arms from his grasp and placed them around himself. She squeezed tightly. “It’s going to be ok. Just calm down. Shhhh.”

After several minutes of only the sounds of the forest and Frisk’s panic, her crying stopped and she was able to breath normally again. She sat back. 

“I’m sorry.” She said, wiping away tears. Her eyes were red. 

He raised a hand to her face, helping rid her face of the water. “Don’t apologize. Just sit still for a minute and try to calm down alright? Can you do that for me?”

She nodded and sat still for a moment before speaking again. 

“I’m sorry, it’s just Chara. Some stuff went down last night, I don’t really want to get into it.”

She knew it was a mistake keeping this from him. Communication is key in a relationship after all, but this was a whole other level. Perhaps one day. 

But for now, Asriel stood and extended his hand to Frisk, helping her up, wrapping his warm arms around her, and kissing her on the head. “I told you that you don’t need to apologize. And I understand. I’m always here if you need talking to.” He said letting go.

He took hold of her hand and helped her as they walked away, cracking some jokes to lighten the mood.

And it worked. Frisk felt much better as they walked home. And while she didn’t forget, she was able to cope for a small while. She figured all she needed was rest. It was pretty early in the morning, after all. The children scaled the wall leading to Asriel’s bedroom window and climbed inside. They kissed goodnight, or morning rather, and Frisk went back to her room and got into her bed. 

She was still a little shaken, but with Asriel there, she supposed everything would be alright.

God that was Cheesy.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She woke up late that morning. As did Asriel. She felt much better when she did. The panic had died down for the moment. She pulled off the covers and stood up, still wearing the pajamas from the night before. 

“That was quite a night.” She thought to herself.

She touched her face and realized she hadn’t taken off her glasses from the night before. There were little white strands of fur in some of the cracks. It was a nice gesture, she supposed; him taking the glasses out with him. However, it didn’t help her when she was trying to get to him. She kept tripping on roots and things. 

She smelled the faint aroma of eggs and bacon from downstairs. Brushing her short, brown hair to the side, she opened the door to the hallway. Asriel was doing the same and she met him in the middle. 

He took both of her hands. “Now?”

She smiled up at him, knowing he was nervous. “Yeah. Now. Don’t worry though. We’ll work with whatever she says. It’ll be fine.”

He took a deep breath. “Ok. You alright after what happened this morning?”

“Yeah I’m good.” She replied, scratching the back of her head. “I guess I was just a little shaken up.”

He looked at her as though that was an understatement, and it was, but she didn’t appreciate the look. 

She punched him in the arm lightly. “Come on. We have some news to give.”

They walked down the stairs single file and in the kitchen was Toriel wearing jeans, a t-shirt that would have fit her a couple of years ago, and an old cooking apron, hustling about, humming to herself while she cooked. 

“Hey Toriel!” Said Frisk.

She turned around, smiling. “Oh! Hello children! You’re both up late.”

Asriel put a hand up to his neck to scratch. “Yeah I guess we are.”

She grinned and turned back to her meal, continuing to hum. 

Asriel looked down to Frisk, searching for some direction. She simply nodded reassuringly. 

After a short silence, Asriel spoke up.

“Hey mom, we have something to tell you.”

She didn’t turn around, but she replied with, “Oh? What is it? Nothing bad, I hope.”

“Uh...You might want to sit down, just in case.” said Asriel.

Now Toriel turned around, placing the pan in her hand on the stove and looking at the children worriedly. Asriel gestured to the table and began to walk over, Frisk and Toriel following suit. Frisk and Asriel sat on one end, while Toriel pulled up a chair on the other. 

“Mom, I… Frisk and I…” He started.

Frisk interrupted. “Asriel and I are together now. Like, romantically kind of together.”

There was a moment of deafening silence.

And then…

A snort came from Toriel’s direction. The children watched the ends of her mouth curl up as she burst into hysterical laughter. 

“Yes!” Toriel yelled. Standing up and doing an odd little celebration dance. 

The children sat there in disbelief. That was certainly not the reaction they had expected. They half expected her to faint from how horrible it sounded. Instead, there she stood jumping and singing and dancing. 

“Oh God finally!” Said Toriel in a quick breath out as she sat back down. She was grinning ear to ear. Her eyes were wide and hopeful. She took her hand rested her head against it, leaning on the table. 

The children glanced at each other. Frisk finally spoke up.

“You’re not… Upset?” 

Toriel let out a loud laugh. “Upset? How could I possibly be upset? I’ve been waiting for this moment for years!”

The children glanced at each other once again. “You… Wait what?”

“Oh come on! It was so obvious! I’ll admit it was a little strange when I first realized you two liked each other, but the more I thought about it, the more and more natural it seemed. How long?”

Asriel began to reply. “Last night… Wait you knew? It was obvious? What the hell is going on here?” 

Toriel smirked at them. “You must be joking. Anybody could have guessed it. Everybody knew!” 

Frisk interjected. “Wait EVERYONE knew? My dad knew? And he was fine with it? Because he usually ends up scaring away anyone who tries to even flirt with me.”

“Well yes, my child. Of course he did. It took some getting used to for him, but he eventually learned to live with it. Now I almost have to stop him from blowing your guys’ cover. Or I had to, I suppose. Oh and honey, do you think he was scaring them off because he didn’t like them, or could it have been that he knew you had someone else in mind?” 

“Oh… Oh my god.” Frisk said, slumping down into her chair. 

“Ok. Ok.” Asriel started. “It’s all good and dandy I that you know I guess, but what about the public? Frisk’s been catching a lot of heat lately.”

“That she has, but children, do remember that you have two politicians living in this house. Three I suppose if you still count Frisk. We planned on this happening.”

“How long have you guys known?” inquired Frisk.

“Oh a long time. Middle school probably.”

Asriel jumped back in. “But what’s the plan? I’m sorry to interrupt here, but we need something to go off of.”

“Asgore and Sans thought it best to come out immediately. We don’t want a scandal to deal with. Frisk should make the announcement, naturally, but you should be present Asriel.”

“Well Frisk I guess you’ve still got it.” He said, turning to Toriel. “That’s what she said when we were walking back over here.”

Toriel looked up at them inquisitively. “Walking back?”

Frisk shot up. “Yeah uh… We went for a walk this morning to… Talk.” 

“You two snuck out in the middle of the night didn’t you?”

Asriel put a hand to the back of his neck. “Well, yeah. She found me thinking out in the woods and i guess it all just tumbled down from there.”

“Oh?” Said Toriel, raising an eyebrow.

Realizing his mistake, Asriel became extremely embarrassed. “No. I mean- not like- I mean- maybe a little but we didn’t-”

“No no, it’s fine children. I support whatever you did last night, as long as you were safe.”

Asriel was practically blood red, and preferred not to disclose what they did or didn’t do that night. Frisk chuckled, happy that the awkward weight was lifted a bit. 

“I just- I can’t believe that- Just… Wow.” Asriel stuttered through his sentence. 

“I’m so happy for you two.” Said Toriel.

And the children had to go about their day as normal from there. It was certainly awkward dealing with everyone as they came by. It was strange for them having now confessed their deepest, darkest secrets (at least for Asriel) to both each other and now to their family. As every family member came into the house, Toriel greeted them rather boisterously and told them all about what happened, and of course everyone, to the children’s dismay, had their own respective, over exaggerated reactions. Sans was the first to come home, and he quite frankly almost had a heart attack through his excitement. Papyrus was next, expressing his happiness for them and offering them candlelight dinner at his restaurant, to which the children flusteredly accepted. Asgore then came home, and he wrapped both of them in his arms, nearly squeezing the life out of them. Undyne and Alphys were the last to come over. Alphys geeked out over her favorite ship coming true, and Undyne simply leaned over and asked, “You two are over 18 right?” The children responded with a meek “yes.” 

Now that everyone had come over, the plan for the media was explained in full. It was nothing that the children had not thought of before, but the children were warned that opinions of them could only become more radical in either direction. 

They knew that. 

But they never could have imagined how right they were.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was the day for the announcement to be made to the public. Asgore had called for a press conference, and the day had finally come. A speech was written for Frisk to read to the public. It had been a long time since Frisk had made a speech; it was going to be strange for her to have to do this again. 

They stood behind a partition, in front of which were about a hundred reporters, cameramen, and various political figures and police. 

Asgore was currently speaking about the state of Ebott and how monster-friendly it was and how he knew everyone appreciated that. In a few moments, it would be Frisk’s turn to go up and speak to the press. She was terrified. There was so much going through her head as she sat backstage, simply thinking about what she would say; along with other things. Chara hadn’t shown up in over a month, and while Frisk had time to cope, she could only imagine what Chara was thinking about, what she planned to do, when she would resurface. Frisk had been training extra hard in the meantime, and along with her work and school, she left herself little time for recreational activities. She could only hope she would be ready for whatever happens next time she sees Chara. Asriel approached her, took her hand, and gave it a kiss. He pulled her in close.

“You’ll be fine.” He said. “We’ll be fine.”

She buried her head in his chest and let out a muffled groan. 

Then she heard, “and now, ladies and gentlemen, Frisk Gaster” come from in front of the partition. That was her cue. 

She stepped in front of the wall and up onto the stage, setting her notes on the podium in front of her. 

“Hello everyone,” She began. “I know it’s been quite a while since I’ve spoken to the press in such a formal manner, but now here I stand in front of you all with some news that could change monster history.” 

She continued to read from the notes, but it just didn’t feel right for some reason. And the longer she read, the less personal it felt.

“So on this day I-” She paused. She sighed and turned the notes over on the podium. “Screw it right?” She said. 

“This isn’t going to be right unless I speak from the heart.” She explained, continuing. “For a long time everyone I’ve known has dealt with prejudice in some way. Whether it be for their beliefs, or their race, or their species, everyone’s seen it in some way. It’s quite frankly idiotic to believe that someone’s never encountered it. But, Ebott has been a place, for the most part, that encourages the breaking down of these prejudices, to great success, as can be seen from the past years since the monsters came out of the underground. I’ve also changed quite a bit since then. The people I’ve known and loved for so long have influenced me in such a positive way since I’ve been with them. And now it’s come time to reveal a truth about me that could spark major controversy. I could be hated, or loved for this, but however it goes, it will affect everyone’s opinion of me in one way or another. And to those watching at home, you are welcome to have your opinions of me and the people I associate with, but whatever they may be, know that I will remain strong in the face of criticism, and I am not afraid to stand up for what I believe is right in this world. We thought it best to come out with this ourselves so as not to be put in the situation of a scandal, and I want everyone to know that this is not something we are ashamed of and this is something I want to be as open and honest about as I can be. So with that, I am proud, dare I say overjoyed to finally announce that Mr. Asriel Dreemurr and I have entered a romantic relationship and wish to be people others can look to as examples of people who were not afraid to be proud of who they were, what they believed, and who they loved. Thank you, have a good evening.”

With this, the room broke into a cacophony of noise and the family walked out of the room together, Frisk and Asriel hand in hand. Waiting patiently and hopefully for what would happen next.


	7. Old Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk and Asriel are finally going about life as normal, and now they're going to meet some old friends

No sign of Chara. It’s been a couple of months since the announcement was made, and naturally, the media went utterly insane over it. Organizations from all over the political spectrum had something to say about it. Some found it to be a step in the right direction, others were cautious of it, wondering if it would become a major trend and how that would affect society, and of course the more radical publications such as those of the Ivanoffs and other anti-monster groups had nothing but bad things to say about it. They had absolutely never been fine with interspecies relationships, but up until that point they were very uncommon and no laws had been passed yet allowing marriage of monsters and humans. Now, however, two of the most prominent monster advocates- the son of the former king under the mountain and the former monster ambassador, who also happened to be the daughter of one of the most powerful monsters in history- were together in full view of everyone. And trust me when I tell you, they did not like that very much. 

Many of Frisk and Asriel’s friends were overjoyed to hear the news, as they had kept it a secret from everyone save for a select few who they knew they could trust. Some people, even in her friend group, thought it was a tad strange, but ultimately accepted it. 

The two children- or adults now I suppose- had gotten much more comfortable with each other, and were no longer embarrassed when someone said something about them. They had gotten past that weird, awkward point in a relationship where you’re super giddy about having a relationship, but ultimately you don’t know what to do with it, and were now very comfortable with each other, and by god was it cute. 

They were one of those couples that would just constantly crack jokes about one another. They were very playful, and it was pretty fun to watch, and to make fun of as well. They would often be holding hands in the hallways or she would sit on his lap, and I would just lean over to them and yell, “THAT’S GAY!” Get it? It’s funny because they’re straight. Classic joke by me. *self five*. 

All of these uplifting stories are not to say, however, that nothing bad ever happened. While many people loved seeing them around town and would often wave or ask for pictures, since they had almost become like celebrities in their own rights, they would often be stopped on the streets and would be told that they were abominations. Sometimes they would be given full lectures pertaining to the ethics of interspecies relationships, sometimes someone would cuss them out or flip them off, and sometimes people would just take their children and walk them to the other side of the street. That hurt the most. They were fine with being lectured or flipped off, because they knew that those people were just wrong, but it was another thing entirely to be avoided. They just wanted to be treated the same as everyone else. Of course, that would never happen, but they wanted people to just see that they were regular people just like they were. 

They would often walk down the streets of downtown Ebott to grab a coffee, and they could tell when they were getting weird looks. They didn’t have to look around to see that it was happening. The world just suddenly felt heavy for them. It made them want to crawl up into a ball and hide. 

And of course there were always cameras wherever they went. They never had to worry about being attacked by people because everyone had seen what Frisk did to those people all those years ago on TV, but the cameras were almost always present. Frisk had become known by the media as being very crass. Whenever people came up to her and asked for interviews or questions, she usually just said something they could never put on camera, smiled, and flipped them off as she teleported away. And as questionable of a strategy as it was, it worked. Frisk didn’t really care about being thought of as inappropriate though. She was 18 years old. She figured she should just live her life and not care about what the press saw of her.

She did like her alone moments though. Being able to teleport made it much easier to get away from the press than it would be otherwise, and she and Asriel would go somewhere far away so it would take a while for the press to catch up. She found that her alone moments with Az were her fondest. It was when she was able to see him as he was with only her and no one else. He was almost like a different person; not in a bad way though. Certainly not. While Asriel was loud and flamboyant when he was in a crowd, when he was alone he was very quiet. They would often just sit in one of their rooms, or at the lookout, arms wrapped around each other, sitting in silence. It was a comfortable silence though. It was the kind of silence that seemed almost wrong to break. 

It was in these times that Asriel got to prying. 

“So Frisk” Asriel muttered.

“Yeah Az?” 

“Still nothing from Chara?” He questioned quietly.

He could feel Frisk sighing. “No. Nothing.”

“You’ve been getting better, for whenever she decides to attack again.” Said Asriel.

She had told him about the dream. Well, part of it. He still didn’t know about her and Chara being sisters, but she told him about her true intentions for going into the underground. And he took it surprisingly well. He was shocked at first, but he simply looked at her and knew that it wasn’t her fault really. He saw her for what she was now, and what she was before whatever traumatic event could have led to this. 

Frisk turned over, now facing Asriel, as they laid on his bed. “Yeah, but last time, it was no joke. And after what happened, and her reaction to it, I don’t know what she’ll do.” 

“You’ll be prepared for whatever happens. I know it.” He smiled and gave her a kiss on the forehead. 

She appreciated the gesture, but couldn’t say she believed it. Her next interaction with Chara was a source of constant anxiety for Frisk. She trained every day, harder than she ever had before since she knew that her life was on the line. She had trouble getting to sleep most of the time, and she would just lie in bed worrying until her exhaustion would finally take her. 

She very much did appreciate that Asriel was there for her though. He was always there when she needed it. And God only knows she needed it. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a snowy night sometime in the winter. The streets glistened and the snow was packed onto the sidewalk in delicate piles, almost inviting you to come jump in them. The snowflakes fell, reflecting the light off of them and creating a beautiful scene as the moon shone in the sky, fuller and brighter than ever. Frisk and Asriel walked down the wet streets of downtown Ebott, holding hands and laughing as their breath turned to clouds of steam in front of their chilled faces. They were both dressed up in their cold weather clothes, layered up in jackets, parkas, and beanies. Signs hung from building to building inviting shoppers to buy things for their winter sales and coffee shops were in full swing, as people flocked inside to get a nice hot cup to warm their insides. 

Asriel and Frisk, however, were going to someplace special that Frisk felt she needed to finally see. 

Their laughter stopped as they silently approached the old building.

Frisk halted as she read the sign.

“Saint James Orphanage.”

She took a deep breath before walking towards the door, turning the handle and opening it, walking in with Asriel in tow. 

It looked nothing like it did in her memories. In her memories the walls were faded and stained, the main room was empty, and the whole place just seemed lonely, but now it was completely different. 

Children were rushing around the main room, playing happily and the atmosphere was that of a pleasant home. Was this even the right place? Yes, it was. The layout was still the same as it was all those years ago. 

There sat a monster receptionist at the front desk, a friendly-looking bunny. 

Frisk approached her. 

“Hello. Does Mr. Flathers still work here?”

“Oh!” exclaimed the bunny. “Frisk Gaster and Asriel Dreemurr. Never thought I’d see you two in here. Are you looking to adopt or something?”

Frisk chuckled. “No. We’re just looking for Mr. Flathers. Is he still in charge around here?” 

“Old Bill? Yeah. He’s leaving pretty soon, but he’s not gone yet. I can lead you to his office.”

Frisk nodded. “Thanks.”

They were led down the hallway, past several rooms. Children were playing in them. They seemed a lot happier than Chara and Frisk had. Frisk saw her old room and smiled. So many memories. Many of them not good, but they were still important to her. 

They finally reached an office with a name on the door. 

“Dr. William Flathers.”

The receptionist knocked on the door and informed the man he had visitors. 

“We’ll tell them to come in!” he said, rather jovially. 

The two stepped in and immediately the smile on the old man’s face changed to a look of shock. His eyes widened and his hand shot up to his mouth. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but clearly he wasn’t expecting them. 

“Hello Mr. Flathers. It’s me.” Said Frisk, giving a small wave. 

The old man removed his glasses from him face and tears filled his eyes. He nearly sprinted across his office and ran to Frisk, hugging her extremely tightly.   
She didn’t quite know what to do with herself, but she just hugged back and said nothing. 

“Oh my god… Frisk, it’s you! I never thought I’d be able to see you again.” 

“Yeah, it’s me. You know, I have to say I wasn’t expecting this kind of reaction.”

Mr. Flathers gave out a hearty laugh. “No I don’t think you would, based on how I used to act. That’s why I never thought I’d be able to talk to you again. I’m so immensely sorry for what I did to you.”

“It’s actually interesting. I never came back here because I didn’t remember the place. When I fell into the mountain, I kinda lost my memories from before then. Eight years later and here I am, remembering it all, but this is insane. I can’t believe all that you’ve done with the place.”

“My god, I’m so sorry, but yes this place has gone through quite a few changes.” Said the old man, putting his glasses back on. “All of this is because of you, you know.” 

She cocked her head, confused. 

“Yep, all your fault. After you took off and left that note, I have to say I really didn’t care all that much, being my former idiotic self. But once you came back out of that mountain and you were all over the news as the face of the monsters, it kind of floored me. I guess you could say that your change inspired mine. And I’m assuming this is Asirel, congratulations by the way.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” said Asriel, reaching out and shaking the old man’s hand. “And thank you.”   
Flathers leaned over to Frisk. “I’m assuming he knows about the letter?”

“Yeah. He knows.” Said Frisk. “That’s actually why I’m here. I wanted to apologize for how I acted and I don’t know, just see the place again.”

“Well I very much accept your apology. Would you like to stay for some tea?”

Frisk smiled. “Sorry, we’ve actually got reservations at 7:00. I’d love to chat another time though.”

Asriel and Frisk turned and walked out of the doors of his office. He led them to the front and opened the door. 

“I just wanted to say again how sorry I am for what I did. Both to you and your sister.”

Frisk's eyes opened wide. She looked to Asriel, who had a very confused look on his face. 

“Sister?” He said.

“Well, yes. Chara, Frisk’s sister.”

Asriel’s eyes were the ones to open wide now. 

Frisk darted in front of Asriel, placing her hand on the door. 

“So sorry, but we actually have to hurry to the restaurant now, goodbye and thank you!”

She closed the door and took Asriel by the hand, dragging him along the sidewalk as he yelled at her. 

“SISTER!?” 

Frisk attempted to pull him by the collar of his shirt along the sidewalk, but Asriel simply threw her arm off of him and stood tall, clearly fuming. 

Frisk now having been stopped, threw her hands up into the air and tossed her head back. 

“Yes Okay!? Chara is my sister!”

Asriel stormed around a bit on the sidewalk, clearly looking for a way to respond, finding nothing. He stopped in front of her and looked her directly in the eyes.

“How long have you known? And don’t you dare lie to me.”

“Since freshman year.” Frisk simply stared at the ground, preparing to be yelled at. 

She didn’t get quite the response she expected, as when she looked up, she saw Asriel staring towards the other side of the street.

“Let’s take this somewhere else Frisk, okay?” He said, straight-faced.

She could see the cameramen trying to hide behind various signs and stands on the other side of the street.

“Okay Az.” She replied.

Asriel put his arm around her and they began walking down the street when Frisk flipped off the cameras and teleported away.

The two were now in a deserted alleyway near the restaurant they had reservations for. It was cold, dry, lonely; basically all of the things that make a person want to curl up into a ball and cry. The narrow passageway was littered with trash and broken bottles, with dirt covered snow packed on either side.  
Frisk let her head drop as she sat down in the dirty snow, dejected. Asriel knelt beside her, eyes closed tightly, inhaling deeply and then letting out a deep sigh. 

“Four years Frisk?”

“Look Az, yeah it was four years, but you have to understand where I was coming from right? Especially considering everything recently. Just… Just try not to be too mad Az.”

“I’m not mad, I’m just… Frustrated is all. I get why you did it, but really Frisk four goddamn years! I’m just tired of hearing all of these things about you that you kept from me.”

Frisk looked up at her partner, tears in her eyes. “What the hell could I possibly do about it? I can’t just let people know about this kind of thing, and that’s partially because I don’t want to keep revealing these things about myself to my family. It takes a toll on them. You’ve seen it. I mean, imagine if Toriel found out that Chara and I were related? Or Sans? I can’t keep doing this to them Az. You have to understand that.”

He stood offering her a hand, which she refused to take. Asriel sighed and knelt in front of her, the snow crunching softly underneath his boots.He took her by the shoulders and lifted her face so that he was looking her directly in the eyes. 

“I do understand, and you’re right. It does take a toll on us, but it takes a bigger toll on you. Thinking back on all the times I’ve seen you depressed or just in a bad mood... I can understand that you have been trying to protect us, but those times show that it takes a huge toll on you as well. I just want you to talk to us. Talk to me.”

He lifted her out of the snow and hugged her, pulling her close to his body, pressing his forehead against hers. His hands were around the back of her head. 

“I just want you to let us help you deal with all of this. No secrets from now on.”

Frisk nodded, lifting a hand to wipe her eyes. “Yeah. I don’t want to do it now, but I can do it later. And yeah. No more secrets.”

Asriel ran his thumb back and forth across her face, pulling her in for a kiss.

“We’ll tell the rest when it’s time okay? But we will have to tell them.”

Frisk simply nodded and put her hands up towards his face, grabbing at the air. Asriel smiled and chuckled a bit, swinging his arms down low and picking up Frisk, bridal carrying her the rest of the way to the restaurant. 

They were already a few minutes late for their reservation, but neither of them cared. It would be a healing process, but in the end, it would be worth it.  
For everyone.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Surprisingly enough, the children stayed in good enough moods to enjoy their dinner, and although there was still some tension, they knew that a healing process was beginning.

Frisk was kicking a rock along the cold, concrete sidewalk as Asriel walked slightly behind her, laughing when she would miss a kick, and then kicking it back up to her as he walked past it. 

The snow had stopped, but by this time, there was a small layer that had built up on the streets, ensuring that drivers would mostly be safer. If Ebott had one thing, it was reckless drivers, Asriel being one of them. 

They had stopped for coffee on the way home, dropping by a local place owned by a friend from high school who had graduated a couple of years earlier. The warm drinks filled their bellies with heat, bringing up their spirits a bit. 

Asriel thought as he walked along, watching Frisk kick the rock along. He was still a little shocked, even though after everything that had happened, he really shouldn’t be. Frisk’s gone through worse and he’s seen weirder things than his adopted sister and girlfriend being siblings right? I mean, he had seen WD Gaster, that was certainly weirder. 

The cameramen had gone away by this time so he knew they weren’t being followed. The cameras usually only stayed until they thought something interesting had happened that could be put to print, and after that, they left the kids alone. 

It was pretty late, so not many cars were out, and by this time, they were already to the edge of the area of town they were in. It was the oldest part of town with several blocks of antique stores and vintage buildings surrounding a large circle and roundabout in the center, in the center of which was a fountain with various plants around it. There would often be small bands that would go out, like a dixieland or bluegrass band, which would always be fun to sit and watch for a little while. The circle was empty that night, probably because it was so cold, but the restaurant the two had gone to had some live music playing; a young female monster sitting at a piano playing all sorts of things from slow, smooth jazz pieces to complicated, virtuosic classical ones. She reminded them of Undyne, who over the years had become an extremely skilled pianist, even though she still worked in fitness.

A car passed by, an old car from the 50s. Looked like a European import since the steering wheel was on the right side of the car. It was a red convertible with the top up, driving rather slowly, driving over a long bridge which connected old town Ebott and the road on the other side of a somewhat large river. The car passed over the bridge smoothly and slowly, careful not to lose any traction on the icy road. 

The bridge itself was rather old, having been refurbished several years earlier to attempt to remove some of the rust and decay. It was approximately 200 feet long and maybe 50 feet wide, with 2 lanes on either side. On the other side was a sort of “T” intersection where the road split in opposite directions, and directly to the front was the beginning of the forest.

The two crossed the street and began walking along the bridge when suddenly, Frisk shouted.

“Oh no! My rock!” 

Asriel watched as the rock sailed over the edge into the water and chuckled lightly.

“Why don’t you just levitate it back up?”

Frisk looked at him, with a rather grumpy face. “Well I would have if I remembered I could do that. But now that it’s gone, it’s gone. Can’t levitate something when I don’t know where it is.”

Asriel was about to say something when he heard the faint purring of a car in the distance. He looked to the middle of the circle, where an old beat up truck was rounding the corner, taking a rather wide turn to do it. 

“What’re you looking at?” Frisk asked curiously.

“Nothing. Just a car. That old truck down all the way at the end there.”

Frisk shrugged and watched with him as the car slowly putted along the street, never quite managing to stay in a straight line.

“Now here, kids, is what we call a DUI charge waiting to happen.” Said Asriel, looking back to frisk.”

Frisk laughed as the car drew closer still, slowly but surely making its way along the street until it was only about 150 or 200 feet away from them, at a red stoplight.

Suddenly they heard the engine roar and the tires skidded on the snowy road, smoke and the smell of burning rubber filling the air as the car suddenly raced, full speed directly at them. 

“Frisk MOVE!” 

Frisk merely nodded, wide eyed, as she began to run along the sidewalk with Asriel away from the vehicle. 

It quickly drew closer and closer to them, clearly struggling to keep straight along the frozen roads, but even still managing to rush towards them. Frisk looked back to see how close it was. Only a little away, and she couldn’t see the driver past the headlights. 

She realized what she had to do, turning around and stopping in her tracks. 

“NO FRISK WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” Yelled Asriel. 

Frisk put her hands up quickly, mustering all of her strength and grabbing the car with long tendrils of magic. She knew she couldn’t stop it, but she could try to push it out of the way. 

With all her might, she shoved the truck of to the side, causing it to lose traction as it spun wildly in circles, heaving up snow and dirt from the road and tossing them all over as the smell of burnt rubber polluted the air and the sound of screeching tires rung in the children’s ears. And Frisk could have sworn she heard a faint scream from the inside of the car as it spun into the wall, crashing against it, as the sound of grinding metal and stone filled the air and the truck abruptly stopped. 

The children stood staring at the wreckage.

“Are you ok?” Asriel asked.

“Yeah I’m fine.”

They suddenly saw the driver’s side door open and a young man stumble out, clearly inebriated, one of his arms with a bone sticking out of it and the other with a gun in the hand. The man slowly lifted his head, revealing a dirt covered, grimy face with a ratty beard, unkempt hair, and bloodshot blue eyes. The children recognized this man.

“Nicholai?”


	8. One Final Memory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more to go.

Nicholai wore a terrifying expression. His bloodshot eyes were wide and filled with hate, and he spat blood from his mouth into the snow, staining it. 

“Nicholai your-” Frisk started, pointing to his severely broken arm, before she was interrupted by a loud bang.

The bullet whizzed over her head, the air surrounding it pulling Frisk’s hair toward the sky. 

Asriel took a step forward. “HEY!!” He shouted. There was another loud bang.

This time, however, Frisk was ready, catching the bullet in front of Asriel’s stomach. 

She began again. “Your arm Nicholai. It’s broken.”

Nicholai let out a piercing scream as he unloaded the magazine towards the couple. Frisk could see his face. He looked terrified. Crazed. Threatened. Tears fell from his eyes as the flashes from the muzzle of the pistol illuminated his face one after the next. 

His gun clicked as he pulled the trigger over and over, not stopping. His head dropped and he stood there panting, steam rising from his mouth with every breath.

The bullets were sporadically placed between the young adults. Frisk let them drop to the ground before repeating herself. 

“Your arm, Nick.” 

“I KNOW!” He yelled, gripping his broken arm tightly. He seemed to grab tighter as a loud crack came from his direction and the broken bone snapped back inside of his body. 

The children grimaced as Nicholai dropped to his knees and screamed louder than before. 

“Az, call 911.” Said Frisk, motioning to her boyfriend. 

He merely nodded as she began to step forward slowly. She could see Nicholai’s tears and sweat dripping into the snow below him as he stared at his arm, still grasping it.

Frisk took several more cautious steps. 

“Nick? You need to calm down, ok?” She said, softly.

Nicholai’s head suddenly shot up; his neck straining to reach as he knelt there; hand clasped onto his arm. 

“I don’t need to do a GODDAMN THING!”

He broke into a full sprint at Frisk, letting his arm flail behind him. His fist came down onto where she stood, but she moved out of the way, letting it pass through the air where she had been. She knew this fight would be an easy one to win, but for some reason, it felt wrong. 

Nick’s arm swung around again to head-height, but once again, she dodged under it effortlessly. 

“Nick, you’re drunk. Stop trying to fight. You know I can win.”

He looked so extremely different from when she had met him. Then, he was imposing, large, confident. But now he was just the opposite. Everything about him looked broken. His skin was pale. His eyelids sagged. He had lost an unbelievably unhealthy amount of weight. He had scars all over his face and arms. What had happened to him?

Nicholai made one final effort as his arm swung down, missing Frisk for the third time. He fell to his knees once again, grunting and panting as his arm and forehead bled.

She could hear he was mumbling to himself. Slowly, she moved in closer, step by step, until she could finally hear him. 

“Everything.”

Frisk stopped. Everything? What did he mean? 

“Everything.” He said it once again. 

“Ni...Nicholai?” She began. 

“It’s all gone. Everything is gone.” His functioning hand gripped his head, nearly pulling out his hair. 

Frisk looked to Asriel. He was still on the phone. Turning back to their old rival, she spoke, hushed nearly to a whisper. “Nicholai. It’s ok. You’re going to be ok. Let us help you.” her voice was soft, comforting, warm.

He turned back towards her. He had tears rolling down his face. 

Sobbing, he spoke. “It’s gone. Everything I had. EVERYTHING. And now I’m left with no one but an abomination and her abomination boyfriend to comfort me!? Is this my lot in life?”

He suddenly bolted towards the guard rail, placing his feet on the edge and turning back towards the couple.

“NO! I’M DONE! I can’t DO this anymore! YOU CAN’T SAVE ME! NO ONE CAN!”

He turned around again, now facing out towards the icy river below. 

“I should just do what I came here to do.” He said, letting go of the rail and tipping over the edge as he began to fall towards the freezing water below.

 

 

Time slowed as his body fell. The cold air ran past Frisk’s ears. She could feel each breath she took, rising and falling in her chest. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. 5 feet down the body fell. Inhale. Exhale. Asriel yelled something behind her. Inhale. Exhale. Her breathing accelerating. Inhale. Exhale. 10 feet. Down, down, down the body fell. Inhale. Exhale. How could this have happened? What led to this? Inhale. Exhale. 20 feet. Down, down, down, down fell the body. She could feel the muscles in her legs beginning to flex as they raised of the ground, propelling her ever so slowly towards the railing. Inhale. Exhale. Faster now. Down fell the body. 30 feet down now. 

He had said she couldn’t save him. 

Was that really true? 

Could she really not save him? 

Did she even want to?

How could she want to save someone who hated her so much? Someone who, from the day she met him, only caused her pain and distress? Someone who hurt her family? Should she just let him die? 

 

Flowey.

 

Flowey hated her. Flowey, from the day she met him, only caused her pain and distress. Flowey hurt her family. But for some reason…

She couldn’t let him die. 

And look what became of him. 

 

 

“Nicholai!” Frisk yelled as she began running desperately towards the railing. Her legs pumped one after another, propelling her further and further until she finally reached it. Her arm swung over the railing as she looked for the falling man. 

She spotted him nearly 20 feet from the rushing river below. She concentrated on lifting him, but still she couldn’t help but notice something.

He looked terrified. 

A blue aura surrounded him as he came to a halt mere feet from the water. His expression didn’t change as she slowly lifted him up towards the bridge, Asriel now at her side. His feet hit the railing, slowly dragging over to solid ground where he was helped to his knees.

Frisk knelt down beside him and hugged him tightly, crying softly. She didn’t know why she was crying. It was clearly a sad moment, but she still couldn’t place the exact reason. Was it because of the traumatic event which had transpired, or was it because she felt bad for him? It could have been both. 

Nicholai’s arms stayed loosely at his sides as his head rested on Frisk’s shoulder. Asriel put a hand on his shoulder, patting it gently. 

“It’ll be ok now Nick.” Whispered Frisk, quietly. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The police came shortly after, along with an ambulance with a full team of paramedics. They asked the children if they were ok, to which they responded that they were, and had only been a little shaken up. 

They were given the stereotypical trauma blankets and walked to the curb, where they sat, side by side, Frisk’s head leaning on Asriel’s shoulder. The medics had gone back to working on Nicholai’s physical and mental state.

“Are you ok Frisk?” Asked Asriel. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a lot going through my head.”

Az chuckled. “Ever the thinker, even now.”

Asriel wrapped his arms around Frisk, pulling her closer to his chest, and letting her rest her head there.

She listened to his heartbeat as they sat there until she broke the silence. 

“I just… I don’t understand it.”

“Which part?” Asriel asked, lowering his chin onto her head. “The reason he chose to do this, or the reason you chose to save him?”

Frisk sat up. “How did you-”

“I know how you think, Frisk. And we have history with Nick. So, as much as I’d hate to admit it, we’re close in a strange, messed up kind of way.” 

She paused. He was right. 

There was a long silence where they just sat there in silence. The snow fell softly around them as the moonlight reflected off each individual flake, the light refracting in so many different colors. 

Frisk laughed suddenly. 

“Remember this?” She said, slowly raising her hand.

A small stream of water began to rise from her palm, the temperature slightly frosting it as it moved, each small pattern suddenly broken as soon as it formed while it snaked around her hand.

Asriel raised his hand as well, a small rainbow-colored flame erupting in his palm, spinning and licking the air around it, steaming with the snow falling on it. 

“Yeah. I remember. That time on the beach. That was so long ago.” He responded after a couple of seconds.

Frisk stared off into the distance. “Didn’t have so many worries back then did we? No relationships, no sisters, no Nicholai.”

The flames and water slowly began to intertwine, swirling around each other, steam rising from the display. They came together slowly, interlocking each side like fingers. The elements steamed and disappeared, leaving only two open palms sat next to each other. 

Asriel took Frisk’s hand in his and kissed it softly. “Not so many worries, no. But I wouldn’t trade this life for anything.”

“Nothing. Really?” Frisk questioned semi-sarcastically, trying to lighten the mood.

“Nope. So what if Nicholai is the way he is, and we have to help him? So what if you have a demon for a sister? So what if relationships are hard? They’re worth it.”

Frisk smiled, looking up at Asriel’s long face. “Oh yeah?”

“Yep. Because it means I get to be with you, darling.”

His head slowly rested on top of hers and they both sat, smiling quietly, eyes closed, waiting for their family to come and the commotion to start up again.

Frisk opened her mouth, smiling gently. “Cheeseball.”

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“I’m worried about tonight Az.” Said Frisk in a hushed breath. 

“You’re going to be fine. Ok? She’s not coming.” 

Asriel’s hands moved up and down her sides, stroking them gently, comfortingly as they laid in her bed. 

The lights in the room were off and everything sat perfectly still, with only the sound of trees rustling and the occasional car passing making sure that it wasn’t a still image. The two children laid side by side in Frisk’s bed, cuddling before Asriel would have to go to his own room and sleep. 

“I’m just… Worried.” 

“I know Frisk. After what happened today, it’d be the perfect time to strike. But whatever happens, you’ll be ok. You’re stronger than she is.”

There was silence after that. Neither spoke. They simply laid there, eyes open and minds racing. It was cold outside, so they had closed the window to keep warm.

“I’m staying right here until you fall asleep, Frisk. I’ve got you.” Whispered Asriel. 

Frisk smiled gently. “I don’t know how soon that’ll happen, but thanks.”

“That’s fine. I’ll be right here.”

There was another long silence and frisk was left to her own thoughts again. She used to be terrified of silence, because it was when she was able to reflect on all her problems, but now it was kind of comforting. Her thoughts that night weren’t good ones. They were ones of fear, worry, trauma, and regret. But still, she wasn’t afraid of the silence. She was able to just sit, uninterrupted, and think. And since Asriel was there, she didn’t feel alone. That was her main problem for all those years. She was just lonely, but she denied herself the thought of connection with the person she knew she loved. It was painful, thinking back on it. 

She turned over in the bed to face Asriel. Her legs slowly intertwined with his as she shifted to her other side, now face to face with the goat. He was asleep. She smiled again, staring at him with her green eyes. Her hands moved slowly up to his face as she wrapped her fingers around his neck and kissed him gently on the lips. He smiled in his sleep. Frisk smiled back.

Slowly, she closed her eyes and drifted calmly off to sleep.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

No. 

No this couldn’t have been happening. 

She was right. 

Frisk shot up, faced with the largest amount of nothing she had ever seen. 

She stood up quickly, spinning in circles to check her surroundings. 

“CHARA! WHERE ARE YOU?” She shouted.

Frisk’s hands suddenly filled with water, moving slowly and wrapping it in almost a shield around herself. 

A shadow began to appear from the darkness; a silhouette, even against the blackness. 

As she came forth, Chara held that old knife in her hands so many years ago.

“Hello Frisk.” 

“Why did you bring me here?” Asked Frisk.

“Straight to the point, I see. Well then I guess I’ll get right to it then.”

She lunged at frisk with the knife in hand. Frisk, however, was ready, and moved out of the way. 

Their fight was extremely claustrophobic. Even in this vast expanse of space, they kept close together, trading blows. Nothing was said. This wasn’t that kind of fight. Both stood mere feet apart, switching stances and moving only slightly in one direction or the other. Chara was fast. Each swing of the knife missed by millimeters or was blocked. Swing, block. Swing, miss. Swing, dodge. Their grunts filled the empty space with an almost emptier sound. No music played. This was not dramatized like you’d see in the movies. This was brutal; a fight to the death between two sisters. 

Frisk was on the defensive, although she knew that she couldn’t last forever like that. 

She found an opening in Chara’s attacks and hit low with the water, pushing Chara back several feet. She jumped back several more. 

Frisk didn’t want to fight. She had never wanted to kill Chara. Chara had always wanted to kill her though. 

“What do you think you’re solving by killing me, Chara?” frisk called out. 

“Shut up!” Chara said, hurling a rock at Frisk. 

Frisk broke the rock with a stream of water before it could reach her. 

“No I will not shut up!” She was interrupted by another rock flying in her direction. She thrived in long distance, so she wanted to stay as far away as possible. “What do you think will happen when I’m dead? You’ll be gone too! You’d think that if you’ve had so much time inside my brain just to sit and think, that you’d put some thought into why you want me dead.”

“We’re monsters Frisk! Both of us! I figure that if I kill you, the world is rid of both of us.”

Frisk held up her defense, now able to throw a few shots back at Chara. “Both of us know that that’s not true! I made mistakes because I was misguided. Those mistakes do not define me.”

“Even Asriel would be better off without us! He hates me… I’ve seen that much. And there’s so much you’ve kept from him! You don’t deserve him!!”

Frisk paused. What? 

Chara continued. “Your friends! Your family! The ones who always cared about you are the ones you’ve kept the most from! You think I hurt them! They think I hurt them! But YOU hurt them Frisk! IT WAS ALL YOU!”

A nearly mountain-sized boulder appeared behind Chara’s head. She was crying incessantly. The boulder hurdled towards Frisk, sure to hit. Knowing she couldn’t merely block the attack, Frisk pooled a large amount of water by her hip, suddenly swinging it around in a flat sheet. The thin sheet of water moving at such a rapid speed cut through the boulder, splitting it in two pieces, falling on either side of Frisk. 

“I get it now Chara.” Frisk began, realizing she had both the physical and emotional highground. “You’re jealous. You see the world through my eyes and you want to be a part of it again. You’re lonely. You hate that I pity you because you know that I can’t do anything to help, and you deny yourself the ability to just talk about it because you don’t think I’ll listen.”

Chara fell to her knees. 

“I just want to see Toriel again. I want to see Az again. But I’m stuck inside your head, forced to watch from your perspective as I dig through your thoughts of love and peace while I can think of NOTHING but revenge and how much I wish that I could just be you!”

“Chara I’m sure there’s something we can do to help y-”

Chara interrupted her. “No. We both know that I’m a lost cause. But that’s just why I want you dead. Because if I can’t live in that world, you can’t either! And as an added bonus, I get to end my own suffering!”

Chara stood suddenly, raising her hands high into the air as the ground before her shook.

“Chara don’t.”

“SHUT UP!” 

The floor suddenly was opened as a stone wall rose in increments, creating an almost wave-like effect. The stone only increased its speed as it raced towards Frisk, roaring like thunder as the ground broke and shifted beneath it.

“CHARA!” Frisk shouted as she swung her hand up in self defense, a thin stream of water like a whip appearing out of thin air. The steam shot forward, through the seemingly impenetrable wall of rock, and out the other side. It struck Chara in the forehead, forcing her onto her back where she lay, unconscious. 

The pillars of stone receded back into the nothingness below, leaving only the empty scene and two sisters, one standing over the other in bittersweet victory. 

Tears filled Frisk’s eyes, blurring her vision as her heart broke for her sister. She stood there, silently crying with her hands clawing at her chest, desperately trying to stop the pain. 

“Asriel!” She screamed, searching desperately for someone who wasn’t there. 

However, she noticed a strange light coming from her chest; a faint red glow. She recognized it vaguely. It felt warm and comforting. It felt like Asriel. 

She looked around the void, and there, lying on the floor, was Asriel. She saw him get up, looking around at his surroundings.

“Asriel?” 

He looked toward her, confused.

But his face suddenly changed to one of terror. 

“FRISK!” He shouted.

Frisk felt a sharp pain in her back, reaching all the way to her stomach. 

“This is for all the pain you caused me, sis.”

She felt the hand on her shoulder slide off. Frisk looked to her boyfriend who stared in shock at her, then down where she saw Chara’s knife protruding from her stomach. Blood ran down from the wound, staining the clothes she was wearing. Her hands began to shake. She fell to her knees and began hyperventilating. 

“FRISK!” Shouted Asriel, still standing in place. 

He looked to his former sister. “You. You did this. YOU DID THIS!” 

He began to change, but this was not like the other times. This was so much more. His body erupted in black flames, stretching out in all directions, licking at the air, ravenous and hungry for blood. His horns curled, stretching to a length that made his fathers look like children’s toys. The flame protruded from his mouth and eyes as well, almost dripping like saliva and tears from them. It would be impossible to describe the terror he emanated. 

He drew a sword from his back, covered in the same flames as the rest of his body and dripping with a dark red substance. There were no rainbows in this hyperdeath form, only black death.   
He lunged forward, taking one massive leap towards Chara. The sword in his hands steady as a rock, pointed straight at her.

She hardly had a moment to be terrified.

In one swift motion, the sword met with her body, running through it before she had any time to react. She looked in terror at the horrible beast before her as he lifted the sword to his face and let out a terrifying roar, enveloping her in flames and leaving no trace of the once sister of Asriel Dreemurr and Frisk Gaster. 

His body shrank back to its normal size and he was left standing in the void; in the silence. He looked back to his girlfriend. She was lying on the ground, on her side. 

He ran to her and, picking her up and putting her head in his lap, looked down to her. She was still alive. 

“Frisk. I…” His eyes filled with tears. “I said I would be there for you! I was too late!”

His tears fell onto her face, but she laid there, simply smiling up at him. “It’s alright Az. It’s alright.”

“No. No Frisk. You’re dying. I could have stopped this!” 

There was a moment where the only sound in the void was of Asriel crying. “Asriel, can you listen to me?”

He nodded. 

“Good. There was one last secret I never told you.”

“Frisk… Don’t do this, please. Don’t leave me.”

“Did you ever think about how I brought you back from being a flower?”

Asriel sat there, sobbing, but he mustered the words through his sobs. “You… Told me… You didn’t… Know.”

“I know. I’m sorry for lying.”

“Shut up Frisk! Don’t you dare say you’re sorry right now!”

She chuckled a small bit. “I was surprised you didn’t remember it after it happened, but on that night when I brought you back, I put a bit of myself inside of you.”

Asriel’s crying slowed. “What?”

Frisk reached inside her chest and pulled out what seemed to be a small, red heart, ripped down the center.

Asriel’s hands flew to his mouth, tears once again filling his eyes. “Frisk… No…”

She suddenly took the heart and pushed it into his chest, letting it slip inside.

“I love you” she said as she raised her arms, lowering his head onto her own and kissing him softly on the lips. He kissed back desperately, searching for one last memory.

Her head fell back into his lap and she stared into his eyes as he called out to her in words she couldn’t understand as her vision faded, her eyes glazed over, and she finally died.


	9. The One She Could Never Save

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The End.

“No… No, please don’t leave me. Frisk! No, you can’t leave me alone… Frisk, say something! Please say something! SAY SOMETHING! DON’T DO THIS TO ME FRISK! Don’t leave me alone…” 

Frisk’s heart sunk lower and lower within Asriel as he said each word. He sat there, sobbing uncontrollably as her dream continued. His sobs filled the void with a solitary sound, and no others came to meet it. 

The body in his arms suddenly felt coarse and rough as he held it, the sensation slowly traveling up her arms, all the way to her face. He took one last look at her before the human in his arms slowly faded to dust.

Asriel let out a pained cry, filling the dense air with all of the agony he felt. 

He was alone. He wasn’t waking up. What kind of cruel punishment was this? He sat there, hands clenched together, holding the dust that was once his closest friend. 

“Why would you leave me alone like this?”

He stood slowly, stumbling as his shaking legs attempted to carry him. The dust in his hands seeped through his fingers and fell back into the pile below.

He let out another cry.

But when he opened his eyes, the scenery had changed. The floor was gone and he simply floated, weightless in Frisk’s mind. No, this wasn’t Frisk. This wasn’t her void. This was his. 

He looked around, curious of his surroundings, and in the distance he saw a lighthouse. The paint was peeling off the sides and it looked as though it hadn’t been used in years. He floated over to it and when he came close, felt his feet touch some kind of ground. It was soft, and it smelled like autumn. Small, individual blades of it ran between his toes as he walked slowly towards the structure before him. This place felt so painfully familiar. He opened the door and found a spiral staircase leading up. It was made of a dark, stained wood, with the railing to the side depicting golden images of beautiful landscapes between each black, iron bar. He ascended the staircase slowly, each step filling him with a strange nostalgia. He wiped the tears from his eyes as he climbed further and further up. He reached the top and found a door. He turned the handle and pushed. The door creaked open and revealed the scene behind it.

All that lay before him was white; white that stretched on as far as the eye could see.

And in the middle of this white void was a girl. She stood, facing away from him with her hands on a railing similar to that of the staircase, staring off into the distance. 

Asriel felt the heart inside him swell and wrench with emotion. He stumbled closer to her, reaching out as he shambled in her direction. 

The image suddenly fizzled and faded as she was carried away as dust, and in her stead floated two boxes with words inside them. 

The first read “continue,” and the second read “reset.”

Asriel gasped. He fell to his knees as tears once again filled his eyes. This time however, they were tears of joy. He began to laugh and cry at the same time, filling the void now with this bittersweet sensation he felt. 

He would not continue like this. He would not allow this to carry on. A world without Frisk was not one he would live in. 

He reached his hand out towards the “reset” option and closed his eyes. 

A smile dragged across his face as he felt that old feeling once again.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Asriel!” 

The monster’s eyes suddenly opened and he was faced with darkness. He sat up and realized where he was.

“Asriel?” Said a voice. 

He turned and it was Frisk, staring at him, just like before. 

He shot up and ran towards her, raising his hands and readying an attack with a look of pure determination on his face. He remembered this power. 

“Frisk watch out!” He shouted as she stared confusedly at him. 

She ducked, revealing another human behind her, knife in hand. 

Asriel threw his hands forward, shooting stars and rainbows from them in a beam headed straight for his once-sister. The hit landed square in the stomach, sending her onto her back, once again unconscious. 

Frisk stood slowly. “Asriel how did you get here? What’s going on? How did you-”

Her sentence was interrupted by Asriel tackling her to the ground. He held her closer than he ever had before and began sobbing. Frisk sat, holding him, not quite sure what to do, or what was happening.

“It’s alright Az. It’s ok. I’m here.”

She felt his back shake as it inflated and deflated violently. She couldn’t tell if he was laughing or crying. His claws dug into her back and his hands ran up and down, as if taking it all in. He suddenly pulled back and looked her in the face. He was smiling with tears filling his eyes. Frisk felt his lips touch hers almost violently, but at the same time, so gently and desperately. She kissed him back, and after a little while, he lifted his head once again. 

“Care to explain what’s going on now?” She asked.

Asriel chuckled and sniffed a bit. “Yeah… Sure.”

He told her everything; how he had woken up in her dream, how he had killed chara, how he watched her die, how he knew about the soul she had shared with him. 

“I didn’t know where it would take me, but I didn’t really care. I just… couldn’t live like that.”

Frisk grabbed Asriel now, holding him tight. “I am so sorry Asriel.” 

“It’s not your fault. None of this is.” 

He rose from the floor and extended a hand to Frisk. He looked over to the unconscious girl lying across from them. 

“We will have to do something about her though.”

He began to step towards her, but Frisk held his hand and stopped him. 

“I didn’t get to tell you before, but I talked with Chara before you came. I finally understand why she did all of this.”

There was a pause. 

Asriel began to speak. “I-” 

“She just wants a family Asriel,” Frisk interrupted. “She just wants to be like us. And she tried to kill me because she blamed me for her circumstances.”

More silence. 

Frisk walked towards the monster. “She just wants to see her mother again. She wants to see you again. She was forced to sit inside my head while I lived a full life for more than 8 years. Think of what that does to a person.” 

She finally reached him and put her hand on his chest. “She deserves to be free. Just like you did.”

He nodded and stepped back, approaching the girl lying on the floor. He knelt down next to her and drew the full heart from his chest. Frisk put a hand on his shoulder as he began to tear it down the middle, just as she had done for him all of those years ago. From beginning to end, Frisk had literally given herself to those she knew, all to save them from a fate that seemed impossible to escape. 

Asriel winced as the heart stretched. He pulled harder and a small tear formed in it. He let out a grunt. Frisk’s grip on his shoulder tightened and he continued. The tendrils of flesh holding the soul together pulled to their limit and broke apart, falling down to the sides of it. Asriel felt the full pain of the soul being ripped apart, but Frisk’s grip on his shoulder remained steady and alleviated some of the pain. Halfway now. Three quarters. All the way down until one last tendon connected the two halves of Frisk’s now three-halved soul. 

Asriel looked up at Frisk. She nodded to him and he returned his focus to the heart. Taking one deep breath in, he pulled and broke that last string, splitting the soul into two halves. He exhaled and let out the pain. After he had returned one half to his body, he sat back up and hovered over Chara. 

“This is for the best, right?” he asked.

“Yeah. I’m sure of it.”

“Chara is the one person you could never save wasn’t she?” 

Frisk smiled. “You were too. And look what became of you.”

Asriel smiled back at her before turning his gaze to chara. With a small push, the half-heart entered her chest and started to glow. 

Asriel and Frisk looked down and found that their chests were glowing as well. 

Asriel took Frisk’s hand in his and leaned over to her.

“I love you Frisk.”

“I love you too Az.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Frisk awoke to the light of the early morning shining in her eyes from her window. Asriel laid next to her, just as he had the night before. The soft whirring of the heater and the sound of cars passing outside kept her bedroom from being completely silent. It was snowing outside her window. The falling snowflakes twinkled like stars as they reflected the sun’s bright light into the bedroom. In monster culture, fresh snowfall was always a sign of new beginnings. The purity and the whiteness of it symbolized a clean slate, untouched by nature, by people, or by circumstances. 

She heard a groaning next to her and felt the fluffy goat monster stretch as his eyes opened. 

“Good morning.” 

“Good morning.” He replied, mumbling into his pillow. 

“Hey Az.”

“Yeah?”

“We made it.” She said, smiling and sitting up. 

Asriel’s eyes widened. “Oh shit, we did. Didn’t we?”

“Yep.” She said, chuckling.

“Wait, what about Chara?” He asked.

The children looked around the room and found nothing, no sign of Chara. 

“Well,” Frisk began. “If she’s not here, then there’s only one place where she could be, right?”

“The place where all of this started.” Asriel added.

The children got dressed and told Toriel that they were going out for coffee. Once they had put on their coats and beanies, they started the car and began their journey. As they drove past all of the places they had been the past eight years, Frisk thought back on the life she’d lived. Chara really did have reason to be jealous. She pitied her. It was a sad life she was forced to lead.

They parked their car and entered the tunnel leading down into the underground. As they walked through the city, they reminisced about how much things had changed. Now, humans and monsters alike lived in the sprawling city and towns spread across the underground. The place that had once lived and breathed animosity for humans now was an example of how they could live together with monsters.  
They had come so far, both as a society and as people. 

They finally came to the ruins, a section of the underground that remained as it was all those years ago, as a reminder of the love and care shown to humans by an old monster lady. The house was just as they remembered it.

They traveled through the ruins and finally came to the end, or rather the beginning of the underground. They passed through the archway and saw a small patch of snow in the middle of a cavern, where those golden flowers grew in the spring.

And in the middle of that patch of snow laid the body of a girl who looked shockingly similar to Frisk. Frisk knelt down beside her and stroked her forehead. 

“Chara, wake up.”

Slowly, the girl’s eyes fluttered open and she wore a confused look on her face. 

She then noticed Frisk standing above her and sat up violently, scrambling away from her. 

“Chara, it’s ok.” Frisk said with her hands up.

She looked terrified. “What did you do?”

“We brought you back.” Asriel interjected.

“A-Asriel? How are you…?”

“Like I said, we brought you back. Welcome to the real world, Chara,” He replied.

“You… You…” She tried to speak, but was stopped by the tears filling her eyes. She broke into sobs, filled with raw emotion. 

Frisk walked over and knelt to hug her. And hesitantly, Asriel joined her. 

After several minutes of sitting in silence, save for Chara’s sobs, the girl calmed down a bit. 

“Do you want to see Toriel?” asked Frisk.

Chara simply nodded.

The children each took one of her arms and lifted her, supporting her as she stumbled towards the entrance to the underground. 

Now begins a new chapter, for everyone.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To everyone who’s ever read my story,

Thank you. I’m honestly extremely surprised at how many people did read this, and never in a million years did I ever think that this would become popular at all. I’m incredibly grateful. This story has affected my life in a weirdly large way. This is how I found my passion for writing. I had always loved stories, and I wanted to be a movie director, but this story convinced me that I really wanted to write. And it’s so strange to think that I would never have found that dream if I hadn’t written this. What’s even stranger that this project began simply because I had run out of stuff to read. If I had more that I wanted to read, this would have never become a thing. This story has also helped me through some tough times. When I began writing this, I was dealing with some major depression and anxiety problems, but I found an outlet in which to vent those feelings in this story. And I’m happy to say that those issues have lessened for the most part over the years. For much of the story, I had based the character and emotions of Asriel off of those of myself. And it’s strange to say that as I’ve grown, he grew as well. You can see his maturity grow with time in the story, and it really does reflect on how I’ve been as a person in the past three years. Only now thinking back on it do I really realize how big of an impact this dumb fanfiction had on me. It helped me to grow my skills as a writer. If you hadn’t noticed, it was pretty damn bad in the beginning. But as it progressed, I found new skills and implemented those, and I even began several other projects. I have about 4 chapters of a novel written, I have an idea for a movie script almost fully fleshed out, and I’m beginning a lore book for a medieval world soon that I’ll be working on with a friend. But I think the most important thing that this fic gave me was you guys. My absolute favorite thing was posting a chapter and waking up the next morning to comments, whether praise or just saying hi. Creating a world that people loved and creating stories that they loved just as much is what motivated me to finish this, even if it took three years. So thank you to everyone who read this, who loved it, who hated it, who gave feedback, who gave conversation, who simply just stayed with it until the end. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

Sincerely,

Cooper,  
author of the Overtale series


End file.
